The Greater Good
by Super Chocolate Bear
Summary: While excavating the ruins of the Ark, Hot Rod and Kup stumble across a dark secret from the Ark crew's past.
1. Lost Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers._

(A/N: Set a few months after 'Rebirth')

_**The Greater Good**_

_**Chapter One: Lost Memories**_

Kup sighed as he entered the darkened chamber that was once the central hub of the Ark. Though he hadn't spent as much time here as some of his other Autobot comrades, he had still become fond of the place when he had been transferred to Earth during Autobot City's construction. Although, he wasn't sure if it was the Ark itself or the mechs who lived in it that had made it such a memorable place to be.

The Autobots certainly helped. He looked over to the smashed remnants of Teletran One, the once cutting edge computer now barely alive. Before it sat Goldbug and Bluestreak, their legs crossed in front of them as though they were human children. They were talking and laughing quietly about something as they worked on an open panel at the base of Teletran One.

"How goes the file transfer, lads?"

Goldbug looked up at the grey Autobot, still smiling beneath his faceplate. "Shouldn't take too much longer. Teletran took quite a beating, but we should get most of it."

The older Autobot nodded, satisfied. "Good. Where's Hot Rod?"

"I think he's in the med bay with Jazz."

"Right. Tell me when you start the transfer."

"Yes, sir."

Kup turned away and let the two get back to their work. Once the motion had been approved to excavate the Ark, Optimus Prime had insisted that the original crew of the ship be the ones to do the excavating, being as they had such a history there. However, after an incident involving Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and a rediscovered stash of energon paintballs, Optimus had seen fit to send some other Autobots to oversee the operation. Namely, Kup and Hot Rod.

Speaking of Hot Rod, the ageing Autobot couldn't be more impressed with the ex-Prime. Since the Nebulos crisis, the young 'Bot had taken on many more responsibilities. Of course, that didn't mean he didn't still act like the impatient, brash, rude and generally young Autobot he was known as before he became leader. In fact, some of the Lamborghini twins' paintballs had mysteriously vanished, and Kup suspected that Hot Rod had had a hand in that. Especially since Ultra Magnus had recently been bombarded with said missing paintballs.

Kup smiled. The Autobot City commander hadn't been particularly amused.

The door to the med bay slid open, or at least attempted to. Some of the Ark's systems had been damaged badly during the battle with Trypticon, and as a result, some parts of the ship wouldn't function correctly. For example, the doors. Kup grimaced and shoved the doors open.

The older Autobot surveyed the room. All things considered, it was in pretty good shape. Some of the walls were dented where rocks had collapsed on them, but other than that… pretty good. He continued to look around the room, and what few memories he had of the place rushing back to him.

He saw one of the beds, and could immediately see in his processor's eye Sideswipe fidgeting as Ratchet worked on his leg, grumbling the entire time. Occasionally, he would explode at Sideswipe to stop moving so damn much, but most of the time, it was just a constant low grumble.

Kup smiled at the memory as he continued to look around the room. There was a control panel on the far side with a large monitor above it, most likely to display Transformer scans. There, knelt in front of the control panel, was Hot Rod attempting to re-activate it, with Jazz on the other side of the room, digging through a large pile of rubble.

"How goes it, fellas?"

Jazz looked at him over his shoulder, pausing his work for a moment. "Hey, man. Rod's just tryin' to get that thing to work while I try and get some of Ratchet's old tools."

Kup nodded in understanding. He knew as well as Jazz did that Ratchet's tools were most likely damaged beyond repair or obsolete (it was the nature of Transformer medicine – a few astro-cycles after you've learnt everything about Transformer physiology, your knowledge becomes obsolete in favour of new, more efficient techniques). The tools were just for nostalgic value. After the moon bases were destroyed, this was almost all they had left of the Autobots who had been on board that shuttle.

"And… there!" The control panel sprang to life, and an old scan appeared on the screen. Hot Rod smiled in satisfaction. "Got it, Jazz!" he said, quickly getting to his feet and tapping away at the control panel.

"Nice goin', Rod! Now if I can just…"

Jazz pulled on a particularly large piece of rock that had collapsed in through the roof, but to no avail. Kup lightly jogged over.

"Here. Let me give you a hand… with… that…"

Kup reached down and grabbed the other side.

"Okay… now towards me… one, two, three, lift!"

With an almighty grunt from both mechs, they lifted the rock and shifted over in Kup's direction before dropping it on the floor.

"You guys got it?" Hot Rod asked, still tapping away on the control panel in front of him, his optics on the large monitor.

Kup looked over at Jazz, who smiled and shook his head.

"Yes. We got it, lad. Thank you for your concern."

"Uh huh…"

Hot Rod wasn't listening.

Kup's attention was drawn back to Jazz as he made a noise of delight. "Ah! There we go!"

Reaching into the rubble, the white and black mech grabbed onto something of a dull grey shade. He pulled as hard as he could, eventually pulling out the object and flying onto his back.

The older mech went over to Jazz as he lifted himself from the ground, dusting himself off.

"You get it?"

Jazz lifted up his prize for all to see, grinning. "Ratchet's tool box."

"Well, I'll be… I haven't seen this since… since you fellas left for Earth."

Although his visor was down, Kup could see the surprise on Jazz's optics. "Well, then, my man, you're in for a treat." He reached down and tried to open it. "If I can just get it open. Ratchet learnt not to leave his toolbox unlocked around here."

"The twins?"

Jazz nodded. "The Dinobots, too. 'Specially Swoop, since he became interested in Transformer physiology. I remember he tried to practice operations on recharging Autobots. I remember Prime hopping into the med bay one time and asking Ratchet if he'd seen his leg."

Hot Rod laughed from where he was working, though it became stifled halfway through. "Huh."

"Something wrong, m'man?"

"Uh… no, I've just found some old scans."

Jazz smiled and made his way over. "Well… put 'em up."

The younger 'Bot tapped a few buttons, and an x-ray image of Hound appeared on the screen, with his left arm joint out of alignment.

Hot Rod hissed. "Ouch."

"Not so much," Jazz said, shrugging. "'Specially considerin' he did it to himself."

The two gave him a questioning look.

"Nature rambles with Brawn. Hound thought it'd be nice an' peaceful." Jazz grinned. "He was wrong."

"Ah," they said simultaneously. Hot Rod turned back and brought the next image up. This one was labelled Ironhide. Hot Rod grinned.

"Even I remember this one. This is after I first arrived, and he was trying to stop me from racing around the Ark."

"Yeah, and you drive right over his foot," Jazz said, smirking.

"Hey, I liked my new alternate mode. It was cool being a car. Just… not cool for Ironhide."

Jazz laughed, and pointed to the control panel. "Next one, next one."

A few more buttons were pressed, and an image of Gears appeared on the screen, with nearly every joint that could be dislocated or broken being so.

Kup grimaced. "Now how in the inferno…?"

"_That's _what you get for tickin' off the Dinobots."

Hot Rod smiled, but couldn't hold back the wince that followed as he looked back at the scan. "Nasty."

"Yeah. There's a reason the Decepticons are so afraid of 'em, y'know."

Hot Rod punched a few more buttons, and static filled the screen. "Ah, come on, you piece of-"

He tapped away diligently on the computer, before taking a step back and kicking the side of the control panel. He checked the monitor to see if the image had returned, then went back to tapping on the control panel.

"It's too damaged. I think that-"

Kup leaned forward. "Nah. It's a file problem. See? There's a security firewall on some of them."

Jazz frowned beneath his visor. "Firewall?" He came forward, looking at the message on the screen. "Huh. That's weird."

"What?" Hot Rod asked, turning his head to look at him.

"Well… Ratchet never really put firewalls and stuff on his files. For one thing, he hated using computers in the first place without loads of passwords and stuff."

The ex-Prime scratched his chin contemplatively. "Maybe it's a leak over. I've heard of that happening with damaged systems."

The two older Autobots looked over at him incredulously.

"What? I know do know some computer stuff, y'know."

Kup cocked an optic ridge. "A 'leak over'?"

"Yeah," the flame coloured mech replied, nodding. "The computer can get confused about which files it's protecting and leave some classified ones unguarded. At least, in the older models like this one. You gotta remember, the Ark was away from Cybertron for a long time."

Kup nodded. "Right, right… so can you trace where the firewall originally was? Maybe we can switch it back."

"Don't think we can switch it back, but I should be able to trace it. Maybe I can do something when I get the original file."

Jazz frowned. "But isn't that classified stuff?"

Kup shrugged. "We aren't going to be reading much of it."

"And besides," Hot Rod added, tapping away on the console, "Kup and I have enough clearance to read it anyway."

After a brief pause, Jazz just nodded. "Fair enough. See you guys later. I'm gonna go see if someone can get this thing open," he said, lifting Ratchet's toolbox slightly.

Kup nodded. "All right. I'll see you later."

"Later, Jazz," Hot Rod threw in, glancing at Jazz as he did so.

"Later, guys." That black and white mech half danced out of the med bay, leaving the two alone.

"So where is it?" Kup asked, turning back to Hot Rod.

"It is…" he pushed another button. "…in room CA. Prowl's room."

The older mech nodded. "All right. Let's go."

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Kup lifted up another piece of rubble. Prowl's office had been hit pretty bad by Trypticon's attack.

"So, lad… how are things with you? Seems like awhile since I've seen you."

Hot Rod paused. "It's been a few months, Kup."

"Well, it's been a busy few months. Headmasters, Targetmasters, Scorponok… not to mention the Deceptions being banished to the furthest corners of the universe."

"Yeah… but how long do you think _that's _going to last? Galvatron seemed pretty damn Megatron-like the last time I saw him. How long do you think it would take Megatron to get back here?"

Kup smiled. "You've got to stop worrying so much. You're sounding more and more like Prime every day." He looked over at the younger 'Bot, who had his back to him. "While we're on the subject, I take it those fishing trips are proving a great success?"

"He's got the patience for it, that's for sure," Hot Rod muttered, lifting a piece of Prowl's desk and moving it aside. "Ah, here we go," he said, pulling out a large box labelled 'Datapads'.

Kup shook his head as he saw the label. "That lad took things much too seriously."

"Oh, and you don't?"

"Of course not. I know how to laugh at life. Prowl… not so much."

"You do _not _know how to laugh at life. Just the other day I made a _great _joke about how old you are, and you just scowled at me."

Kup scowled.

"Yeah, like that," Hot Rod said, pointing at his face.

"Just open the box."

The flame coloured mech shrugged. "Prowl would have laughed," he said in a sing-songy tone, looking down at the box and getting to work on the lock. He pushed a few buttons on the locking mechanism. A negative tone came from the box, and Hot Rod frowned.

"Need some help with that, lad?"

"No, I've got it."

He pushed a few more buttons. Another negative tone.

Kup smiled. "Now you, see, lad, _this _is funny. I can laugh at this."

This time, Hot Rod scowled. "Screw it."

The older Autobot looked over at his companion. "…'screw'…?"

"Earth expression. Ask Daniel." Hot Rod placed the box down on the floor and took aim with his wrist blasters, mentally pulling down his optic visor.

"Lad, what are you doing- Hot Rod!"

The younger 'Bot fired, and a thin, cutting laser beam came from one of the blasters, cleanly slicing the locking mechanism in half. The top of the box sprang open, and Hot Rod looked over at Kup innocently, giving him a puppy dog look.

"What? You didn't think I was gonna blast it open, did you?"

Kup just mumbled something about respect for one's elders, and reached into the box, pulling out a datapad and checking it for the tell-tale signs of encryption transfer that Hot Rod had earlier told him about on the way to Prowl's office. Parts of the file would be distorted or unreadable as a result of parts of the old firewall still remaining.

"You did think I was gonna blow it up! Oh, Arcee's gonna love this."

Kup smirked. "Now _there's _an interesting subject," he said, placing one datapad to the side and moving on to the next.

"What?" Hot Rod asked, sparing him a quick glance as he checked another datapad.

"Arcee."

"What about her?"

"What's going on with you and Arcee?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"I don't know. Just seems there might be something going on there."

"She's with Springer."

"Oh, so you _are_ interested?"

"No, I just… I know what you're getting at."

"And what would that be?"

"You know."

"Dammit, lad, you're as cagey as Prime."

"I'll choose to take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't."

"I'll tell Prime you said that."

"Don't change the subject."

Hot Rod tossed a datapad to the ground. "There is no subject! There is nothing going on with me and Arcee, there never _was _anything going on with me and Arcee, and there never _will _be anything going on with me and Arcee. Okay? Okay."

"All right, all right." Kup got back to his datapad checking, as did Hot Rod. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much…" the older Autobot quoted, and the flamer coloured 'Bot looked up at him irritably.

"What?"

"Shakespeare. You really should read it sometime."

"I have. I know all about it. And I _know _what you just said. You think I've got something for Arcee."

"Well, don't you?"

"No! We're friends, that's all!"

Kup stared at Hot Rod for a few moments before getting back to his datapad. "Right…"

"Kup. There is _nothing _going on between me and Arcee. All right?"

Kup was silent.

"All _right?"_

The older Autobot laughed. "All right, lad. You know, you really should learn to laugh at life sometime, Hot Rod."

"Oh, ha, ha. We'll see how much you're laughing when I release the video recording I took of you during the Golden Age celebration."

"There's no way you can prove that was me."

"Oh, come on. Who else knows all the words to 'Primus and Unicron are Dancing in the Energon Lake'?" Hot Rod got back to his datapad. "And you looked so pretty in the pink, too…"

"All right, all right. Let's just get back to work, shall we?"

"I'm sorry. Are you conceding defeat?"

"Hot Rod. Datapad. NOW."

The flame coloured Autobot, grinning inanely, got back to his datapad checking. "Ah. Got it. Let's see…"

"What are doing, lad? We're just supposed to find the firewall and fix it, not go snooping around in Prowl's personal-"

"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist. I'm fixing it, but I need to go through it to check where it's already encrypted."

Kup frowned in confusion. "Panties…?"

"There. Done."

"Right. Good. Now that that's taken care of, how about we get back to work in the med bay?" Kup said, walking over to the doorway.

"Right, right…"

Hot Rod stood and walked over to the box and began piling the datapads into it. He paused, and an optic ridge shot up in curiosity.

"That's weird…"

"What?"

"There's… some kind of… weird thing at the bottom of the box. Like… another layer."

Hot Rod took out all the datapads, and Kup made his way over, his curiosity overriding his earlier impatience. Hot Rod pointed to the bottom of the box.

"See?"

Kup nodded. The bottom layer of the box was dented at the corner, revealing a small layer beneath.

"I'm not sure if we should be snooping around in this," Kup said. "That looks pretty personal if Prowl went to that many lengths to hide it."

Hot Rod pulled away the bottom layer, revealing a lone datapad. The ex-Prime took it out and held it in the light.

"Looks like it's got a processor scanner on it, too…" Hot Rod said, absent-mindedly. "Looks like it's out of commission, though. Must have been powered by Teletran or something."

"All the more reason to leave it alone, Hot Rod." Kup stood. "Put it back in the box and we'll take it with us to Cybertron."

"…woah…"

Kup looked over to see Hot Rod reading the datapad. "What the hell do you think you're doing, lad?" he yelled, making his way over to the younger 'Bot.

"… it's, a, uh… it's a…"

Kup snatched it off him and glanced at the contents subconsciously. He froze when he saw one word.

'Murder'.

That wasn't something that happened very much on Autobot ships. The only time Kup had ever heard of it happening was when CFS, 'Combat Fatigue Syndrome' kicked in. And besides, Kup would have heard about anything like this happening on the Ark.

He shook his head vehemently, picked up the box, and shoved it inside, along with all the other datapads. He tucked the box under one arm and marched out of the room quickly, Hot Rod pursuing.

"What are doing? We've gotta look into this!"

Kup stopped and whirled on his heel, jabbing an angry finger in Hot Rod's chest. "No we don't, lad. We shouldn't have been looking around in there anyway. This is something _we _don't get involved in."

He turned and continued on his way. The flame coloured Autobot paused for a moment, then came after Kup again.

"What do you mean, 'something _we _don't get involved in'? It's a-!"

Kup put up a hand as Hound walked by. He gave them a brief nod and a friendly smile. He probably thought it was just another one of their arguments. Hot Rod lowered his voice output to a whisper.

"This is a murder, Kup, and you are _deliberately _ignoring it!"

"Damn right, I'm ignoring it! This is none of our business."

"None of our business! You're the head of security for Cybertron, Kup! What if the murderer is still at large?"

"We don't know if Prowl caught him or not. The Ark crew are a tight bunch, lad. Maybe they kept it quiet."

"Well we won't know unless we check, will we?"

Kup paused. Hot Rod, seeing his hesitation, pressed on.

"Would you be able to live with yourself if someone else died because you didn't follow up on this?"

The older Transformer paused yet again. He sighed. "I must be going space crazy…" he said, shaking his head.

Hot Rod smiled and nodded. "All right. Where do you want to do this?"

"Let's go back to Prowl's office," Kup sighed, gesturing limply back the way they came.

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"All right, here we go," Kup said, lifting up the datapad and starting off. "Prowl log, date…" He paused. "There are big chunks missing."

Hot Rod frowned and took the datapad. He turned it over and sighed. "It's been damaged." He turned it over again to continue reading. "We'll just have to read through it and see what we can pick up."

"Isn't there any way to fix it?"

"The only thing I can think of is to reconstruct it, but you'd have to take it to one of the big brains on Cybertron like Perceptor or Brainstorm."

"You want to take it up there, don't you?"

Hot Rod shrugged. "If we don't, we could end up leaping to the wrong conclusion."

Kup sighed as he shoved the datapad back in the box, being sure to place it at the bottom below all the others. "When the hell did you start making so much sense?"

"When you started laughing at life."

The older Autobot smiled, and the two made their way to the med bay to finish their work. Their joking was only a very thin façade, though. They were scared. Scared of what a murder within the ranks of the Autobots could mean.

Kup prayed to Primus it was something else. It had to be.

The Autobots of the Ark were heroes, not murderers.

And Kup would be damned if he went down in history as the one who proved it otherwise.

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(A/N: A few things, first of all. This doesn't really have any relation to my 'Mixed Feelings' story, other than the fact that Hot Rod and Optimus are going to become central characters in it. Also, while this _is_ set in the Post-Movie universe, I'm going to be revisiting the pre-Movie universe quite a bit, so those of you who are more pre-Movie inclined, please stay on board – your favourites are going to be featuring in this heavily.

And if there's any of you who haven't seen 'Rebirth', don't sweat it. I'm not going to be referencing it heavily, and it has next to nothing to do with the story, except the use of a few Headmaster characters, like Brainstorm, for example.

I'd like to give a brief shout out to Maria Shadow, because I got the term 'Combat Fatigue Syndrome' from her stories 'Playing the Game' and 'Playing the Game: Rematch' (although I'm not sure if she invented the term for her story or if she was just using it, I don't know).

But enough of my ramblings. Review!)


	2. Strange Behaviour

Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers._

_**The Greater Good**_

_**Chapter Two: Strange Behaviour**_

Hot Rod had always found going to Cybertronian labs interesting, even when he had been Rodimus Prime. There was something about being surrounded by so much he didn't understand that was kind of humbling and heartening at the same time. It made him feel that perhaps it wasn't necessary for him to know all and see all. That he could rely on others.

As he had come to know Optimus Prime since his resurrection, he had found that he also enjoyed the labs for that very same reason.

Of course, there was the reason Optimus _didn't _like to come to labs (which, coincidentally, was also why Hot Rod didn't enjoy them);

Inventions.

The scientists in the labs were always coming up with new inventions. Some were useful, some were even impressive, but one thing never changed, and that was how damn excited their creators became.

Even Wheeljack, with his Autobot version of a toothbrush (even though Transformers didn't have teeth) was excited beyond all reason.

And, apparently, Brainstorm was the same.

"Isn't it great?" he said, holding up the box for him and Kup to see.

Hot Rod leaned forward to get a better view. "Yes. Yes it is."

Kup scratched the side of his face. "Not to sound ignorant, but what exactly does it do again?"

Hot Rod glared at Kup as Brainstorm gladly jumped into another explanation.

"Well, Omicron particles have always been very difficult to comprehend, let alone control, and this device allows me, through a complicated series of procedures involving-"

"Brainstorm," Hot Rod interrupted, doing his best to sound diplomatic. "Maybe you could tell us about this another time. We've really got to have the contents of that datapad as soon as possible."

"But-"

"Brainstorm…"

The excitable young scientist sighed. "All right…" He took the datapad from Kup's hand and took it over to his examination table. "But you _promise _you'll come back and take a look at it later?"

Hot Rod held up his hand. "Scout's honour."

A grin spread across Brainstorm's face beneath his faceplate, and he go to work examining the pad.

Kup tapped Hot Rod on the shoulder. "'Scout's honour'?"

"Earth expression. Ask-"

"-Daniel, right." He shook his head. "You spend too much time with that youngster, lad."

"Hey, I'm a youngster too. I figure I should surround myself with youth before I become old and crusty like yourself."

"All right, I'll give you old, but crusty?"

"Earth expression. Ask-"

"-Daniel. Yes, I get it."

Hot Rod crossed his arms. "You do it too."

"Do what?"

"Use Earth expressions."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do. Except all of yours come from Carly. Which would explain why they all involve human curse words."

"I refuse to get drawn into this argument," Kup said, turning his head away slightly.

"Oh, because you're losing?"

Kup's head whipped back around to face him. "No, because-" He stopped himself and sighed. "Because Brainstorm is trying to work, and we're distracting him."

"That's a very good point," Brainstorm added irritably from the other side of the room, still examining the damaged pad. "What's on here, anyway?"

"I'm afraid that's classified," Kup said tersely. Brainstorm's head quickly shot up to look at him.

"Really? Is it dangerous?"

"It's a pad. Pads aren't dangerous. The information on it is what we want."

"Is the information dangerous?"

"No."

The scientist's optics thinned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now if you would kindly-"

"Because I doubt you would tell me if it actually _was _dangerous, would you?"

Kup seemed to grow to twice his size as he glowered at Brainstorm. "Now, listen here, lad. We-"

Hot Rod brought a finger up between them. "I think that _you _need to calm down," he said, pointing at Kup, "And that _you_," he continued, bringing his finger around to Brainstorm, "should stop asking questions and get on with your job. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Brainstorm replied, slowly and reluctantly getting back to his inspection. Hot Rod turned to Kup.

"_Are we clear?"_

"You're not my superior officer."

Hot Rod did his best leader glare.

Kup sighed. "Fine."

Hot Rod smiled.

_Still got it._

He turned to Brainstorm. "Get to work, and call us when you're done."

Brainstorm nodded, and, satisfied with his work, Hot Rod turned to Kup and gestured for him to follow him out of the room. Just as he stepped into the doorway, he stopped and whirled on his heel to look at Brainstorm, who had already gotten to work.

"Remember. No peeking. Believe me; we'll know if you do."

"Uh… yes sir."

With a wink at Kup, Hot Rod was down the corridor. The older Autobot sighed and shook his head before following.

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Optimus sighed and rubbed his weary optics. Why did the smarter ones always have such atrocious handwriting? It was nigh-on impossible to read anything Brainstorm and Perceptor had written. Humans had learnt to type, Optimus couldn't see why Brainstorm and Perceptor couldn't.

And worse, he had to sign off on the pair's reports so they could go ahead with… whatever it was they were describing in their reports.

The door chime sounded, and Optimus leant back in his chair, tossing the datapad lightly onto the table.

"Come in," he said, his deep growl of a voice resonating throughout his office. He frowned as he heard something rattle.

The door opened and Trailbreaker stepped in, holding a checklist in front of him. The rattling sounded with every heavy footstep of Optimus' second in command. Trailbreaker had become the second in command on Cybertron in Jazz's absence. Since Trailbreaker had moved his possessions to Autobot City by the time Trypticon had destroyed the Ark, he had felt no need to go down to Earth, especially since Prime needed someone to help him run things up on Cybertron.

Prime held up his hand.

"Stop."

The bulky Autobot stopped in his tracks. "Sir?"

Optimus got to his feet and stamped. There it was again. That rattling.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what, sir?"

"That… rattling noise."

Optimus stamped again to demonstrate. Trailbreaker held up his head to better receive any noise. He was silent for a moment, and Optimus began to fear he was going mad.

_Probably from stress._

Trailbreaker looked over at him. "Sounds like loose plating. I'll have some of the tech boys come over and sort it out."

Prime let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you, Trailbreaker. Now," he said, moving back to his desk, now ignorant of the rattle. "What can I do for you?"

"Perceptor and Brainstorm would like to know if you've signed off on their reports yet."

A low, almost imperceptible growl emerged from Prime's voice emitter. Trailbreaker smiled.

"Handwriting that bad, huh?"

The Autobot leader sighed. "Look at it," he said, lifting up a datapad and turning it around for Trailbreaker to see. "What am I supposed to make of _that_?" he said, pointing at one word in particular.

Trailbreaker leaned forward, his optics thinning beneath his visor. "It looks like it says… 'Cow'?"

"And somehow, I doubt Brainstorm and Perceptor's experiment involves 'shunting high levels of energon through the Cow converter, thereby creating…'" He turned the pad around again, and pointed to another word. "What does that say?" he sighed, causing a small grin to spread across Trailbreaker's face.

"Looks like you've got your work cut out for you."

Optimus took a deep breath through his intake valve, nodding. "When do they want confirmation by?"

"As soon as possible, they said."

His shoulders drooped, and he let the pad clatter to the desk in front of him. "…fine, fine. Tell them to give me… a few hours. I should be done translating by then."

Trailbreaker nodded. "Right."

"Anything else?"

"Uh, let's see…" he said, looking back down at the datapad in front of him. "Blaster has been playing his music too loud, which is causing quite a few complaints. He's asking if he can have permission to ask Perceptor to make him an iPod."

Optimus smiled beneath his faceplate. "Permission granted."

"Right, right…"

He ticked it off the list, and moved on to the next order of business.

"One more thing – the fellas down at the Ark are wondering when they have to come back up." He smiled. "Seems they're having more fun down there than they thought they would."

Prime nodded. "They can stay down there as like, so long as they're still working on excavating the Ark."

"Right. I think that's all for the moment. I'll tell Perceptor and Brainstorm to come and find you in a few hours."

"Make that a day," Optimus said, squinting at the datapad in front of him.

Trailbreaker grinned. "Will do."

"Thank you, Trailbreaker."

The door to Optimus' room slid open, and Kup and Hot Rod were revealed on the other side. After giving them a small nod and a smile, Trailbreaker slid past them and out into the command center.

Kup cleared his throat. "Uh, Prime?"

Optimus' head came up. "Oh. Hello, Kup. Hot Rod. Come in, have a seat."

The two cautiously made their way in and sat down on the two chairs opposite Prime's desk. Optimus groaned again and tossed away the datapad.

Hot Rod smiled. "Perceptor, right?"

Prime nodded.

"Wait until you get a report from Blurr."

That just made Prime groan again. "What can I do for you?"

Hot Rod's smile faded, and he glanced over at Kup nervously.

Optimus frowned. "Is there a problem?"

"It's uh…" Hot Rod looked over at Kup for support.

The older Autobot sighed. "…it's about something we found in the Ark."

The Autobot leader put a weary hand over his optics. "Sunstreaker… who's hurt?"

"No, no… it's, uh… nothing like that."

Prime cocked an optic ridge. "Then what?"

Kup took a deep breath. "Well… we found… an old file of Prowl's. He was looking into something. Something bad."

"What, exactly?"

Kup was silent as he tried to find some way to say it.

"Murder."

The word hung in the air like a bad odour.

"Does it…" Optimus paused. "Does it say who?"

Kup shrugged. "We don't know. The pad was damaged. We've brought it up here to be repaired."

Prime nodded. "I don't think this is anything you need to concern yourself with."

Hot Rod almost stood up. "What? But it's-"

Optimus put up a silencing hand. "_However,_ I would like you to find out exactly what Prowl's investigation was about."

The flame coloured 'Bot looked at his superior officer suspiciously. "You know, don't you?"

"I have a _suspicion._ Nothing more, nothing less. And before I start telling you about events that are sensitive enough as it is, I would rather we get the facts straight first. All right?"

After a brief silence, Hot Rod nodded.

"Good. Report back to me when you've found out anything more."

Hot Rod got up out his chair and made for the door. It slid open, and he paused as he realised Kup hadn't followed him. He was still sat in his chair, looking at Optimus.

"Dismissed, Kup."

The older Autobot slowly nodded and made his way out. After waiting for the door to slide shut behind him, he turned to Hot Rod.

"He has a lot more than a suspicion. I'm sure of it."

"You think he's _lying_? Optimus Prime?"

"I didn't say lying, lad. I just said he knows more than he's telling."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough." Hot Rod took said as he led the way to the commissary. "How about some fresh, high grade energon while we wait? My treat."

"Sounds good!" a loud voice said, coming down the corridor towards them.

Hot Rod and Kup looked over at the source of the voice, and saw Springer and Arcee approaching them. The larger green Autobot wrapped his arm around Hot Rod's shoulders.

"Really, kiddo, you're too kind."

The flame coloured 'Bot sighed as Springer led him away down the corridor, the two laughing and shouting at each other as they walked away.

Kup paused at Optimus' door, his gaze lingering on it.

"Kup?"

He turned to look at Arcee.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

She smiled. "Then come on. I don't think we want to leave those two alone together for too long at a time."

He smiled at his old friend good naturedly as she led the way down the corridor.

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"So," Springer asked between munches of hardened energon, "what were you fellas seeing Prime about?"

Hot Rod and Kup looked at each other. "Uh…"

The green 'Bot smiled. "Personal stuff, huh?"

"No!" Hot Rod said quickly, his voice going up a defensive octave.

Kup shook his head. "We were seeing him about some business. Sorry, lad, but we can't tell you anymore than that."

Springer paused for a moment. "I see."

Arcee cocked an optic ridge. "Is it serious?"

Kup just sighed, and Arcee nodded.

"Right, right. Classified. Sorry."

Hot Rod frowned, feeling slightly saddened by how they had to shut the two out. It had come as quite an adjustment for them to make when Hot Rod had been promoted above them by Optimus. They had gotten used to being on the same level as the impulsive young Autobot. Hell, they were like a miniature family within the Autobots, much the same as the Dinobots or Aerialbots were. All they needed was some combined form to make it complete.

Then Hot Rod had become Rodimus Prime. Although that still didn't change much in terms of them still working together, it _did _change the dynamic of their relationship. Now, Hot Rod was giving them orders, while becoming much more serious than the Hot Rod they were used to. Hot Rod had thought that Optimus Prime's return from the dead would also return everything to normal.

He was wrong. Optimus promoted him. Now Hot Rod was on a par with Kup, the two now being co-security chief's of Cybertron. And that meant keeping certain details from their two old friends. Looking over at Kup, Hot Rod could see the same saddened look in his optics as well.

"So, uh," Hot Rod began, trying to alleviate the tension between them. "How're the repairs on the eastern quadrant going?"

"It's good, it's good. Getting along nicely," Arcee said. Hot Rod almost winced at how forced her words sounded.

Just as Kup was about to contribute to the conversation, his wrist communicator buzzed. He brought it up, revealing the face of Brainstorm.

"_I'm done with the reconstruction, if you want to come down here and take a look."_

Kup nodded. "Understood. Will do, lad."

He stood, as did Hot Rod.

"Uh… nice talking to you again."

Arcee nodded, a polite smile on her lips. "Yeah… we'll… have to do it again sometime."

"Right."

Kup gave a nod to the two before leaving with Hot Rod.

Hot Rod couldn't help but overhear Springer's muttering as they left.

"So much for friendship…"

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"All right, lad, what have you got?"

Brainstorm lifted the datapad. "I wasn't able to get all of it, but it looks like about eighty-five percent of it is intact now. The rest of it is pretty irretrievable at this point."

Kup nodded slowly as he took the pad and looked it over. "All right. Thank you, lad."

He was about to start going through it, but stopped when he noticed Brainstorm still stood in front of him.

"Would you mind, lad?"

The scientist just shrugged. "Oh, of course. I mean, it's not as if it's my lab or anything," he said as he left.

Hot Rod and Kup looked over at each other. The flame coloured 'Bot just smiled and shrugged.

"Am I the only one reminded of Wheeljack?" Kup asked.

Hot Rod laughed. "No. Now come on, let's uh… get to it." he said, gesturing to the pad.

Kup nodded. "Right, right…"

He pressed a button on the pad, and began reading.

There were quite a lot of details in there, which didn't surprise Kup in the least. Call Prowl what you wanted, but lazy he most definitely _wasn't. _When he ran an investigation, it was the most thorough and complete investigation that anyone had every seen. There was information about the different suspects, witnesses…

They both froze as they saw who the supposed murder victim was.

"No wonder Prime wanted us to leave it alone…" Hot Rod muttered.

Kup could only stare at the name, his mouth slightly agape.

_Elita One._

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(A/N: I don't know what it is about this story, but I'm struggling to get the chapters to my usual length for my stories. But, I figured that if I couldn't write in any more for this chapter, then I shouldn't force it.

It's amazing how much guesswork is required for some of these characters. For Brainstorm, I've only got 3 episodes to work with. I've tried to make him a mix of Wheeljack and Perceptor. He's got Wheeljack's brains, and Perceptor's enthusiasm for… everything he makes. He's also got a little bit of Ratchet's crotchety demeanour.

But the most interesting one is Optimus Prime. For having so many episodes devoted to him (I think there was only two episodes in the entirety of season one and two where he didn't appear), there is precious little about his personality or character in there, except for the fact that he's Abraham Lincoln in a robot body.

I've tried to insert some wry, tongue-in-cheek humour into his character, since he did show a _very _dry sense of humour in episodes like 'Kremzeek!' and 'Enter the Nightbird'. I also figure that, since the Decepticons are out of the picture, he would start to loosen up a bit. If any of you have seen _Justice League Unlimited_, I'm _sort of _playing him like J'onn J'onnz (the green Martian guy).

In any case, I have no idea where the idea to make Optimus and Rodimus love _and _hate labs came from. With Rodimus, it's pretty clear why he wouldn't like hanging around in a lab, but Optimus…

Well, I was just trying to give him some human characteristics. Not human, but… you know what I mean.

And just to make it clear, the chain of command goes: Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Jazz, Trailbreaker. Ultra Magnus is on Earth all the time running Autobot City, though, leaving Jazz as Optimus' right hand man on Cybertron. Except now, though, obviously, since he's on Earth at the Ark.

And about Springer and the gang eating energon… I'm not sure of the exact science of the stuff. It's a power source in most episodes, but then you see Decepticons getting drunk on the stuff ('Microbots'), and then you see Octane and Sandstorm eating orange stuff on sticks that they _call_ energon ('Starscream's Ghost'). So I just figured that they can eat it too.

…Well.

_That_ author note went on for way too long.

Anyway, review!)


	3. Denial

Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers._

_**The Greater Good**_

_**Chapter Three: Denial**_

Hot Rod and Kup turned the corner from the corridor and entered the command center, where Optimus Prime was watching over Blaster as he operated the comm.

He put a tentative hand on the older 'Bot's shoulder. "Kup… should we do this?"

Kup stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him, incredulity creasing his features. "What?"

"I mean… what if Prime already knows about this? We could be dredging up-"

"And what if he doesn't, lad? We can't just let him go on assuming that-" Kup stopped himself before he mentioned any names that would attract unwanted attention. "Look, if you don't want any part of this, that's fine."

"No, no... I… we should. I'm just…"

A silence descended between them, filled only by the bleeps and low voices of the busy command room.

Kup just nodded in understanding before turning once more and heading over to Optimus.

"Prime."

The hulking Autobot cast a brief glance over in his direction. "Is that the report?"

"…yes."

"And?"

"I think we should discuss this somewhere else."

Prime took a breath through his intake valve, looking over at Blaster.

"Do you think you can handle things from here, Blaster?"

The red Autobot grinned and waved a dismissive hand. "No prob. Springer's pretty much got control of the situation on the other end, anyways."

After throwing him a satisfied nod, Prime turned towards his office, beckoning Hot Rod and Kup to follow him as he did so.

It was one of the longest walks of Hot Rod's life, along with every single time he was forced to make some kind of inspirational speech as Rodimus Prime.

Although in retrospect, this felt much, much worse.

Before he knew it, however, the door to Optimus' office was sliding shut behind him, and the great leader stood before him was gesturing for them to take a seat.

They paused before doing so.

Prime cocked an optic ridge at their hesitation, but continued on anyway.

"So? What do you have?"

Kup took a deep breath. "Well… it's… about Elita One."

Optimus' expression was unchanged. "I see."

"From what I've read of the report when I skimmed over it, Prowl seemed to be of the mind that… she was murdered."

Once again, the Autobot leader's expression didn't alter one iota. "And not by a Decepticon, I take it?"

Kup and Hot Rod exchanged a look.

"…No."

"I see."

Hot Rod carefully observed his leader's expressions, his attempts made frustratingly redundant by that damned faceplate.

"Optimus… did you know about any of this?" he asked, leaning forward slightly.

Prime placed his hands on his desk with a dull thud, pushing himself up. He turned towards the window. "After the battle with the Decepticons where Elita… died… Prowl came to me, saying that he had evidence that she _hadn't _been killed by Decepticon fire. That…" He shook his head. "It's an insane notion. An Autobot wouldn't do such a thing, no matter what the reason."

Kup glanced down at the datapad he held in front of him with both hands. "That's not what Prowl seemed to think, Prime."

Their leader whirled on his heel suddenly. "Prowl was grasping at straws. I told him to leave it alone. That was almost directly before we moved up the Moon Bases, and when he and the others…" A sigh escaped the Autobot's vocal processor. "Well, I thought it was done."

"Well… it's not, Prime. And you're going to have to decide whether or not we should look into this."

"I… no. You can't. It's in the past."

Hot Rod glanced at Kup, then at Prime. "But-"

"No, Hot Rod! This…" he sighed. "This is something that should be left buried."

"But what if-"

"It doesn't matter, Hot Rod. It's done. Leave it alone. That's an order."

"You can't just-"

"Dismissed."

"I-"

"I said DISMISSED!" Prime bellowed, almost causing Hot Rod to leap from his chair. Kup stared at his leader, showing no signs of shock at his leader's sudden outburst. The older Autobot gradually levered himself up, before giving a small nod to Optimus and leaving the room, Hot Rod in tow.

The door slid shut behind them, and Hot Rod looked over at Kup.

"What are we gonna do?"

Kup looked down at the datapad.

"You're not thinking of leaving it alone, are you?"

Aged optics met his, and Hot Rod could see the conflict within them.

"Kup… we can't just leave this. I don't care what Prime says. If there's a murderer out there, we don't know who he could kill next. Me, you…"

"…Arcee?"

Hot Rod opened his mouth and froze. "I… yes. Arcee too."

A slight smile quirked at the side of Kup's mouth.

"So?" Hot Rod said, cocking his head to the side. "What _are _we gonna do? Leave it alone?"

Kup looked up at him.

"Like hell."

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The transport bumped yet again as it travelled across the supposedly smooth surface of Cybertron. As Hot Rod gazed out the viewing port, he pondered what had he and Kup had read in Prowl's report. It had been the year 2004 when Elita had been killed in battle on Earth. Metroplex's construction was nearly complete, and Hot Rod had only just been transferred there. Neither he nor Kup had been part of the battle, though they had heard the news soon enough.

Prowl had been tipped to something strange when Ratchet had shown him the results of Elita One's autopsy. The blast patterns weren't consistent with Decepticon weaponry, _and_ had hit her in the back. Hot Rod had found the first piece of information interesting. He hadn't even known there _was _a difference between Decepticon and Autobot weaponry. But apparently, Decepticon weapons were equipped more for power than accuracy, while Autobot weapons were precise but slightly weaker.

Of course, they could still kill a mech if used properly. It was sort of poetic in a way. The weapons reflect the factions to which they belong.

If Hot Rod had been Rodimus, he probably would have smiled morbidly at that. As it was, he could barely find the energy to crack a smile. The thought that an Autobot could kill another, let alone someone from the Ark crew…

If he was honest, it shook him to the core. He wasn't sure how to handle it, so he had opted to push it the back of his mind until more facts were available.

After doing some investigating into the battle, Prowl discovered that only three Autobots had seen Elita's death; Trailbreaker, Ultra Magnus and Windcharger. The last entry in the tactical officer's log had detailed Prowl's intention to question the three.

The log ended rather abruptly after that. Kup suspected some foul play, perhaps on the part of the alleged murderer. In some leap of logic that Hot Rod didn't quite understand, Kup had decided that they should head to the Cybertron data archives.

The flame coloured Autobot turned to Kup. "Why are we going to the archives again?"

Kup sighed. "Listen. All the files from the Ark were transferred up here during the excavation, right?"

"Right… so?"

"Then it stands to reason that the 'Bot we're after – _if_ it's a 'Bot – would probably want to keep Prowl's investigation from prying optics."

"But then… why not just delete the whole thing?"

The elder Autobot shrugged. "You saw how messed up the file system was. Maybe whoever it was could only get to a certain part. Maybe he or she thought no-one would be able to find the report, so only took out the incriminating evidence as a 'better safe than sorry' measure. Who knows?"

Hot Rod scratched his head as he wrestled with the concept. Kup smiled at the decidedly human gesture. It was amazing how the Autobots had known the humans for such a short time (by Transformer standards, anyway) yet they had made such an impact on their lives.

Jazz and Blaster could be routinely heard playing or humming human songs as they walked through the corridors of Cybertron. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker would randomly inflict pro-wrestling moves on passing Autobots. Hound spent almost all of his time exploring forests, jungles and any other place on Earth that was incredibly hard to travel through.

And Hot Rod scratched his head when he was puzzled by something.

"So… why would the missing stuff from Prowl's report be in the archives? I mean, if it was deleted, it was deleted, right?"

"Prowl was a stickler for routine and proper procedure. I'm just hoping whoever it is that deleted the segment of Prowl's report didn't know about or count on that. Everybody's got to slip up sometime, right?"

"That's not exactly airtight reasoning there, old timer."

"Best I could do on such short notice, lad."

With a wry smile creasing his features, Hot Rod turned back to the viewing port and watched the landscape zoom by.

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The librarian robot scooted over to them, the small graviton generators on its underbelly emitting a soothing humming sound.

"_Good day. How may I help you?"_

Kup seemed ready to step forward and smash the small robot when Hot Rod stepped between them.

"Uh, we've okay, thanks."

The robot looked from Hot Rod to Kup, as if taking in the elder Autobot's threatening posture, and then back again. _"Very good, sir." _It turned and left. If Hot Rod hadn't known better, he could have sworn it was moving away from Kup slightly faster than normal.

"Dang blasted machines. Can't stand them. How many of those things have asked us if we need help now?"

"Counting that one? Three," Hot Rod replied, thoroughly enjoying how stressed Kup was becoming over such a very small problem.

"Don't they communicate with each other? Tell each other 'say, those two Autobots walking around the library? Leave them alone'. No, they try and beat away at your resistance to them until you finally have to say-"

"-found it."

Kup looked over at his youthful partner, and saw him inspecting a computer screen on one of the library's towering disk shelves.

"Prowl logs… 2004… got it."

A small slot opened up next to the screen, and a disk neatly emerged. Kup smirked. Prowl would have been proud of the efficiency.

Hot Rod inspected the disk. "We need a-"

Kup handed him a pad. The younger Autobot stared at the pad for a moment, before smiling, shaking his head, and taking it. Kup walked around to Hot Rod's back to better see the details on the pad. Hot Rod frowned.

"Uh…"

The elder 'Bot's optics widened slightly. "It's gone."

Hot Rod's frown changed slightly. "Wait a minicycle…"

A shiny metallic silver hand darted around the datapad, pressing buttons and inputting commands.

"I thought so," the flame coloured Autobot said, his lips thinning.

"What?"

"There's telltale signs of deleted data here. Looks pretty recent, too."

A grunt escaped Kup's vocal processor. "Someone's been keeping tabs on our investigation."

"Looks like it."

Kup rubbed his weary optics.

"Hold up…"

At the sound of Hot Rod's voice, Kup slowly brought down his hand, daring to peer over at the Autobot as he feverishly worked on the pad.

"I think I can get some of the deleted stuff back. There's not much to work with, but I think that… there we go…"

Before Hot Rod could even start reading it, Kup had snatched the pad away and began consuming what little words were on the pad.

_Windcharger isn't guilty, - ---- ---- much. Trail------- ------ ------- -----------, --- - ----- --'- --------. Ultra ------ isn't or wasn't -------- --------. I -----------------------------------------------------------_

Kup looked over at Hot Rod. He shrugged almost desperately. "That's all I got."

"So…" Kup said, sighing heavily. "Prowl suspected Ultra Magnus, Trailbreaker and Windcharger."

"It's the logical thing. They were the only ones to see Elita die, and Prowl thought an Autobot did it."

"Yeah…" the elder Autobot replied, staring at the words on the pad. "Logical."

"But Windcharger didn't do it. He says so there."

"That makes it either Trailbreaker of Ultra Magnus, _if _it's either of those two in the first place. Prowl wasn't perfect. It's possibly he targeted the wrong suspects. He was only going with the logical course of action. And if what Prime said and these dates are correct, it wasn't long after this log was made that he was transferred up to the Moon Bases. He probably didn't get much of a chance to investigate further before…"

Hot Rod nimbly took the pad from Kup's grasp. "Well, it's all we've got to go on, and I'd rather follow Prowl's lead than none at all."

Kup nodded. "Right."

"So what now?"

"I say we talk to Trailbreaker and Ultra Magnus."

"Just what I had in mind."

"But we have to do it quietly. If Prime gets wind of it-"

The ex-leader of the Autobots brought his finger to his own throat and ran it across, making a strange ripping noise with his vocal processor as he did so.

Kup stared at him in silence for a moment. "What the hell was that?"

"It means it'll be our heads if he finds out."

The only response was a blank stare from Kup.

"It's an Earth reference."

Still the blank stare.

"It means Prime'll kill us."

"Oh. Right."

Hot Rod shook his head. "Let's just go," he sighed, pointing to the door.

"Well, why didn't you just _say that _instead of using some arcane Earth expression?"

"'Arcane'? I'm gonna tell Spike you said that."

The two were so busy talking, they didn't even notice the visual and audio scanners in the library robots recording their every move and word.

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(A/N: Ye Gods! How long did _this _take? Sorry for the delay, folks – other stuff to deal with, and all that.

Anyway, review!

P.S. While it didn't really show much Transformer-y type stuff, I've got to admit the trailer for the movie next year has me psyched. Awesome!)


	4. Investigation

Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers._

_**The Greater Good**_

_**Chapter Four: Investigation**_

Red Alert looked up from his datapad with a weary expression, though there was still an element of panic in his optics, as though he were tired but still ready for action. Hot Rod had never been too fond of Red Alert. Even when he was Rodimus Prime, he had tried to limit the amount of time he had to spend around the security obsessed Autobot, if only to stop himself from saying something to Red that he would regret.

Sue him. Just because he was leader at the time, didn't mean he had to like everyone who worked under him. He was pretty damn sure Optimus didn't like _everyone_.

"The next transport to Earth is heading down tomorrow," Red Alert said, tapping away at his datapad. "You'll have to wait until then."

Kup sighed for what seemed the hundredth time. This was getting tiresome for both him and Hot Rod. He had his fists on his hips in what he had hoped was his most intimidating posture, but it seemed to be having little effect on his target.

Primus, he hated negotiating with Red Alert. While he was a fine officer, he certainly knew how to ruffle everyone's feathers.

"Look, I'm not asking for the next transport, I'm asking for a shuttle."

"All the shuttles are in use."

Hot Rod pointed through the viewing port at the three idle shuttles that were parked in the landing bay. Red Alert merely glanced at the ships before going back to his datapad.

"They're here for maintenance."

A look was exchanged between Kup and Hot Rod.

"What kind of maintenance?" Kup asked.

"They went through an ion storm on their way back from Epsilon Six. The navigation computers were misaligned by the storm. Happy?"

Kup rubbed his optics with his thumb and forefinger. "But we don't need the navigation computer; we can navigate to Earth manually."

"Well, be that as it may, you can't take them until they're repaired."

Hot Rod sighed. "And how long will that take?"

"A week."

"A week?" he yelled, exasperated.

"Raising your voice isn't going to help the situation. Taking those shuttles with the navigation computers misaligned as they are is a security risk, and one I'm unwilling to take. Now, unless you have a very good reason as to why you need to go to Earth, I'm afraid I will have to deny your request."

Kup leaned forward, seemingly growing to twice his size as he overshadowed Red Alert. "How about the fact that we're the chief security officers of Cybertron and we're giving you a direct order?"

Red Alert paused for a moment. "Right this way."

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"I think you enjoyed that too much," Hot Rod said, smiling as he looked over at his older companion.

Kup leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Well, when you've got leverage, you use it. Besides, you can hardly talk, lad. I seem to remember you abusing your title to get what you wanted, too."

"Yes, but that's because I'm the leader. I'm supposed to be corrupt and dishonest. You're supposed to keep us all honest by reminding us of the old, simpler ways."

A light smile played across Kup's face, but it wasn't sincere. He was worried; that much was obvious.

Hot Rod sighed. "What're we expecting to find down there, Kup?"

The elder Autobot shrugged. "I don't know, lad. Hopefully something to prove this whole thing is just some elaborate trick by the Decepticons."

"Yeah. They'd go lower than this to hurt us, right?"

"Right."

"So nothing to worry about. It's some Decepticon trick. We'll find the proof, everybody celebrates, end of story."

"Right."

Hot Rod sat back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

As Kup looked over at him, Hot Rod only just noticed how old the grey Autobot actually looked.

"Yeah."

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Ultra Magnus wasn't a happy Autobot. It could have something to do with the one hours' worth of recharging he managed to get before he was woken up by a false alarm. Apparently, one of the human staff members' dogs had triggered one of the intruder alarms, setting off a citywide security alert.

Or perhaps it was something to do with the fact that whenever he called the Ark to see how the excavation was going, all he ever heard was loud rock music and the faint noise of Jazz singing.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was because he couldn't find the twins. Anywhere. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had simply vanished without a trace. Had it been anyone else, Ultra Magnus would have been concerned for their safety. As it was, he was more concerned for the safety of everyone around the missing twins, wherever they may be. His wrist communicator beeped for attention.

"Found anything, Cloudraker?"

"_Negative, Ultra Magnus. And not only that, but my brother's disappeared now as well."_

The Autobot City Commander sighed. Fastlane was almost as bad as the Lamborghini twins when it came to making trouble. If he had been recruited into their merry little band, there was no telling what kind of havoc they could wreak. After all, Fastlane could fly.

"Thanks for the report, Cloudraker. Call if you find anything."

"_Rodger Dodger."_

And with that, he signed off. A frown creasing his features, Ultra Magnus accessed Fastlane's communicator frequency.

"Fastlane, come in. Come in, Fastlane."

"_Yes?"_

"Where are you? Cloudraker said you disappeared."

"_He would. Don't worry, Ultra Magnus, I haven't been kidnapped by the twins. I just went for a higher look above the city."_

Magnus blew out a relieved sigh. "Well, good. But next time, tell your brother when you decide to take the initiative."

"_Now where's the fun in that?"_

"It's not supposed to be fun, it's standard procedure. If it was fun, everybody would be doing it, wouldn't they?"

"…_right."_

The large robot sighed. "Never mind. Just keep me posted."

"_No problem. Fastlane out."_

Ultra Magnus sighed again. It wasn't normal for someone to sigh with this much frequency in one day.

He really needed a vacation.

He leant back in his chair and idly picked up another datapad. Another one of Highbrow's reports complaining about something or other that Hardhead had said or done. Magnus could swear they were all getting more stressed out after they were separated from their Headmaster counterparts. His communicator beeped again.

Wearily, he tossed the report aside and pushed the button on his desk. "Yes?"

"_It's Kup and Hot Rod to see you, sir."_

Magnus smiled. Although he wasn't expecting them, he was still happy to have someone to talk to who didn't consider him beyond communication. "Send them in."

The door slid open, and Kup and Hot Rod stepped through. Ultra Magnus smile widened as he stood up, though it was quickly replaced by an expression of concern upon seeing their dour faces.

"Kup. Hot Rod. How are you? Please, sit down."

The two made their way over, the apprehension on their faces making its way to their legs as they walked awkwardly to the chairs opposite his desk. Magnus slowly sat down.

"Not that I'm not pleased to see you, but… what brings you by?"

A glance was exchanged between the two. It didn't go unnoticed by Magnus.

"Something wrong?"

Hot Rod shifted in his chair. "Define 'wrong'."

Kup shot him a warning glare, and looked back to Magnus. "We need to talk to you about something."

The Autobot City Commander leant forward in his chair, knotting his fingers together while resting his hands on his desk.

"Nothing too dire, I hope."

"It's… about Elita One."

An optic ridge rose. "What about her?"

"I want to talk to you about the day she died."

"Any particular reason you're bringing this up now?"

"We found some evidence in the Ark that indicates she may not have been just another casualty of war."

"She was murdered, is that it?"

Kup gave pause at that. "How did-"

"Because I was on Earth when Prowl came to Prime with the 'evidence'. He didn't think there was any cause for an investigation then, and I'm surprised that he's cleared this now."

The two were silent.

"He hasn't cleared this, has he?"

No response. Ultra Magnus just stared at the two in disbelief, his mouth hanging open as he tried to think of something to say. When he finally spoke, he spoke evenly and calmly, though he was feeling anything but calm on the inside.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Who the hell do you think you are, dredging this up from the past like this? Do you realise how long it took Optimus to get over this? Do you realise just how much trouble Prowl caused with his investigation?"

Hot Rod scowled and sat forward. "Whoa, whoa, hold up. This isn't just some crazy conspiracy theory. There's substantial evidence to go on here; if there wasn't, do you think we'd be looking into this?"

"I don't care what kind of evidence you think you've found. We're only just starting to get back on track after the war. I don't know why you'd want to torture everyone involved by bringing this up again."

"Because it's the truth we're talking about here! Justice! It's the stuff we stand for, remember?"

Magnus slammed his hands down on the desk and sprang to his feet. "Don't you dare lecture me on what we stand for!" he bellowed, his optics boring into Hot Rod's. To his credit, the younger Autobot didn't even flinch. Taking a deep breath, Magnus slowly sat back down again.

"I understand where you're both coming from. But we put this behind us a long time ago. Windcharger, Trailbreaker and I all saw it. I was to the left, and Windcharger and Trailbreaker were on my right, in that order. Elita leapt out from behind her cover to get a better shot at Starscream. Megatron saw her moving, and attacked. She was killed instantly."

He rose from his chair. "I've already talked to you about this enough. I don't want to hear about you looking into this anymore. If not for my sake, then for Optimus'. He's been through enough the past few years without you hurting him even more." His gaze fell on Kup, who was watching him silently. "I'd have thought you would know better by now, Kup. You've seen what this kind of trouble mongering can do."

The elderly Autobot slowly rose from his chair. "Thanks for your time."

He turned and left the room, Hot Rod following. Magnus waited for the door to slide shut before reaching for the communicator on the desk.

"Patch me through to Optimus Prime."

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Hot Rod looked over at his older companion as they walked down the corridor.

"What do you want to do now?"

Kup didn't reply. His head was tilted slightly down in thought.

"Kup?"

"I want to check something," he said quietly, almost mumbling it to himself. He accelerated his pace and turned the corner, heading into the communications room.

"What're you-"

Kup was either ignoring him or unaware he was speaking. The greyish blue Autobot punched in a few commands on one of the wall consoles. Static filled the screen, but was quickly replaced by Trailbreaker's dark visage.

"_Trailbreaker."_

"Trailbreaker, this is Kup."

"_Kup? What're you doing on Earth? I thought you were on Cybertron."_

"We had some last minute business to attend to."

"_Oh." _Trailbreaker looked down at his off-screen datapad, tapping in some commands. _"What can I do for you?" _he asked absent-mindedly, still tapping away as he did so.

"I'd like to ask you something about the day Elita One died."

He froze. _"What brought this on?"_

"It's a long story. I just want to ask you two questions, and then we'll be out of your hair."

"_I uh… I don't…"_

"It's just two questions, nothing to get too concerned about."

"_I uh… okay. I suppose."_

"All right. Now, first, who killed Elita?"

"_It was Megatron," _he instantly replied, as if automatically.

Kup nodded. "Okay. Now, where were you stood when she was killed?"

"…_what?"_

"You were stood with Ultra Magnus and Windcharger. Where were you stood in relation to them?"

"_I… it was such a long time ago…_

"Just try."

"_I… I was in the middle."_

"Are you sure?"

"_Yes… yes, that was it. Ultra Magnus was on my left, and Windcharger was on my right."_

Kup nodded. "Right. Thanks for your time."

"_...what's this all about?"_

Kup waved a dismissive hand. "Nothing you need to worry about," he answered, a comfortable smile on his face. "Thanks again."

"_Um… no problem."_

The elderly Autobot reached out and deactivated the screen. Silence filled the air as what Trailbreaker had told them sunk in.

"A mistake?" Hot Rod said quietly, staring blankly forward.

Kup shook his head, the frown on his face deeper than Hot Rod had even seen it. "Ultra Magnus doesn't make mistakes."

"So… what now?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I really want to drop this. I want to pretend we never found anything."

Hot Rod grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around, looking him in the optics. "But we're not going to. We owe it to the Elita One. We owe it to Prowl." He lightly shook Kup. "We owe it to Optimus."

Kup's gaze came up, determination on his face once again. "Damn it, you're right."

A grim smile crossed Hot Rod's features. "All right. So where do we go from here?"

"We'll head over to the Ark. If we're lucky, we might be able to find some surveillance logs, or _something _about Prowl's investigation there."

"And if we can't?"

Kup's scowl deepened as they left the communication room. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let some murderer get away on my watch. That's not why I'm an Autobot."

Hot Rod nodded. Now _that _was more like the Kup he knew.

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(A/N: The tension builds…

This chapter was great fun to write. The argument with Ultra Magnus in particular. Was Magnus being too protective? Was he just looking out for Optimus' welfare, or was it something else? Was Trailbreaker genuinely forgetting details about Elita's death, or covering up something else? _This _is the kind of stuff I love to write.

And… PETER CULLEN IS OPTIMUS PRIME IN THE LIVE ACTION MOVIE! The film will now rock regardless of any other details.

Anyway, review!)


	5. Running in Circles

Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers._

_**The Greater Good**_

**_Chapter Five: Running in Circles_**

Optimus hated looking over reports. Not for the actual content of said reports (though they weren't particularly interesting). And it wasn't even because of the sheer volume of reports he would get on a day to day basis.

No, it was because of the silence. The silence that was empty, but filled the room at the same time, almost clouding his audio receptors. His mind would wander in silence, and that was something he _really _didn't need right now. He needed something to fully occupy his mind, to divert it from the troubling events of the past day or so.

He had been staring at the same datapad for the past twenty minutes, and he still didn't know what it was about. Permission for Grapple and Hoist to start work on Sector 2814. Optimus frowned. How had this taken him so long to read and approve? Sector 2814 had been hanging open like a rusty gate since Unicron's attack all those years ago. Prime approved it and moved on to the next datapad.

Optimus tried to read it; he really did. But other things were weighing heavily on his mind, and he couldn't shake them off. Letting out a sigh, he tossed the datapad onto the desk and rubbed his optics wearily. Moving slower than he really had to, Optimus lay his hands on the armrests of his chair and pushed himself to his feet, making a beeline for the door.

It slid open obligingly, and Optimus stepped through into the command center, taking in the noise and general atmosphere that surrounded him. If he were human, he would have a taken a deep breath to enjoy the moment more. As it was, a small smile grew beneath his faceplate, although it was, at best, a hollow gesture. He slowly made his way around the room, coming to a stop behind Blaster.

Blaster, sat at his communication station and oblivious to Prime's presence, reached forward and pressed a button.

"Callin' Optimus Prime."

"Yes, Blaster?"

The communications officer nearly leapt out of his chair. Optimus was glad for a faceplate to hide his amusement. Blaster smiled nervously, slightly jarred by the incident.

"Oh. There y'are. Got a message comin' in from Earth. It's Ultra Magnus for ya."

Optimus sighed, although it was almost imperceptible to those around him. He kept a much tighter reign on his displays of emotion when he was out in public.

"I'll take it in my office," he replied wearily, turning back to the den of silence.

It was the City Commander, all right. But something was bothering him, and it wasn't the usual Sideswipe and Sunstreaker related incident. Both hands firmly planted on the desk, Optimus sat down in his chair.

"…Magnus. Is something wrong?"

The Autobot City Commander pursed his lip components apprehensively. _"I just had Kup and Hot Rod in my office."_

Optimus frowned. "What are they doing on Earth? They should be on Cybertron."

He wasn't sure why he even asked the question. He knew what they were doing.

"_They were asking me about Elita One. About the day she died."_

Hoping the pain in his optics wasn't too plain, Optimus continued. "What were they asking, exactly?"

Magnus paused. _"I… they never got a chance to ask."_

"What do you mean?"

"_I mean… I stopped them before they could go any further, and told them to leave it alone. I assume that's what you said to them as well when they brought this to you."_

Optimus covered his face with his hand. He was feeling a cranial ache coming on. "Something like that," he sighed.

"_Somehow I don't think they're going to listen to either of us, Prime."_

"What makes you say that?"

"_A hunch. What do you want me to do if they are?"_

The Autobot Leader thought for a moment. What could he do? Did he really want to reprimand them for seeking out the truth, just because it was too painful for him?

"_Prime?"_

What if they were wrong (which they most likely were)?

He shook his head.

He locked optics with Ultra Magnus.

"I… don't know. Let me have time to think about it."

Magnus seemed ready to object, but then settled on nodding. _"Yes, sir."_

"But keep an eye on what they're doing. If they're doing _anything _other than helping with the excavation, send them back to Cybertron immediately."

"_Right. Ultra Magnus, out."_

Prime pushed a button and ended the transmission. What kind of a decision was that? It simply allowed him to sidestep a hard choice temporarily until it came back and bit him in the aft. He heard Ironhide's voice in his head.

"_You need to stop sittin' on the fence and **do** somethin', Prime!"_

Optimus Prime pushed himself to his feet. "You're absolutely right," he muttered, heading for the door.

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When Hot Rod had first arrived on Earth, he had wondered how such firebrands like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker could actually enjoy themselves. It was all lumpy and dusty, not to mention some of the odd and sometimes revolting odours that would make their way into his olfactory sensors.

Now, as he flew from a small ridge and landed on the ground with a thump, he couldn't think of a place that was more fun. Kup was lagging behind and yelling something at him, but Hot Rod couldn't hear him over the wind and roar of his own engine. He was probably just telling him to slow down, anyway. It was always the same thing with Kup.

"_Damn it, lad, you've got to be more careful!"_

"_Slow down before you break something!"_

"_Turbo-revving young punk! I'll straighten you out yet!"_

He turned and skidded as he approached the entrance to the Ark, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Hot Rod transformed and waited for Kup arrive, who was moving at a relative snail's pace.

"C'mon, Kup! You're not getting any younger!"

"Lad, I'm going to ignore you said that so I don't have to knock you into stasis." He slowed to a stop before the young mech and transformed. "For now," he added, jabbing a threatening finger in his face.

"Ooo, scared."

"You should be."

"Well I'm not."

"You should be."

"But I'm not."

Kup seemed ready to continue the asinine argument, but thought better of it and continued on, settling for a sigh and a shake of the head.

"What're we looking for here, anyway?" Hot Rod asked, looking around the Ark as though he had never seen it before. The Ark boys really had done a good job cleaning out the rubble.

"Well, first off, we're supposed to be here anyway. So I thought we should pay a visit for appearances' sake."

"And second?"

"Second… I thought we might be able to find some surveillance records."

"Right, right."

"What's wrong with you, lad? I told you that before we arrived."

"Yeah, sorry. There's just…" he paused. "I dunno. Something rattling around in here, I guess," he said, knocking on his head with his fist. "You know me. In one audio, out the other."

"All too well, lad," Kup replied, sighing. "Ah. There we go. Teletran One."

They made their way over to the giant computer, which had now been given a new screen temporarily. Two golden legs stuck out from the underside of the control panel. Both Kup and Hot Rod paused. Kup cleared his throat.

"Goldbug?"

The Throttlebot leader quickly sat up in alarm, slamming his head on the bottom of the control panel. Hot Rod winced in sympathy.

"Ow." He shook his head and looked up at the two. "What can I do for you?"

Kup made a small gesture to the computer before them. "Is Teletran in working condition?"

Goldbug nodded. "Half of the files have already been transferred up to the Cybertron library, but if you still want to use it…" He silently gestured to the computer.

The elderly Autobot walked over to it and paused when he saw Goldbug standing next to him, naively watching.

"It's… sort of sensitive information, Goldbug."

Goldbug's optics widened in horror. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise. I'll just…" He pointed down the corridor. "Yeah. Give me a call when you're done."

"Will do."

After waiting for the small 'Bot to leave, Hot Rod stepped forward to watch Kup tap away at the computer. He wasn't sure if the voice commands for Teletran One were working or not, but then again, they couldn't very well ask Teletran these kinds of questions out loud.

"_Say, Teletran, have you got any records of Prowl pestering people who saw Prime's mate die?"_

No thank you.

"Well?"

"Give me a minute, lad."

"Shouldn't I be doing this? Since I'm a bit more computer-able than you?"

"Not with these computers, you're not. Remember, the Ark was gone for a long time. Our technology advanced while these fellas were gone."

Hot Rod nodded, looking at the computer itself. Now that he really looked at it, he saw that it certainly wasn't as advanced as some of the stuff they had on Cybertron.

"Here we go."

Kup's words knocked Hot Rod out of his musings, and he looked excitedly from Kup to the monitor, and back again. "You've got something?"

His co-security officer nodded. "I searched for anything that had _just _Prowl and Ultra Magnus, Prowl and Trailbreaker or Prowl and Windcharger."

"And?"

"I got this," he said, glancing around the room before lowering the volume and commencing the playback.

The screen flickered for a moment before settling on an image of Prowl and Windcharger sat in what Hot Rod recognised as Prowl's office. The camera was at such an angle that he couldn't see much of either of their faces, only their body language as they sat on either side of Prowl's desk.

"_Windcharger… I want to ask you a few questions."_

"…_about what?"_

"_About the battle a few weeks ago."_

"_But… everything's in my report."_

"_Yes. I know. I've looked it over," _Prowl replied, holding the datapad up for Windcharger to see. He gently tossed it back onto the desk. _"But I want to hear your version of events."_

"_Why? I mean… why?"_

"_I just want to be clear on a few facts before I file my report to Optimus."_

Hot Rod privately smiled. Prowl never could tell a lie. He just never volunteered information when he didn't have to. Unless someone asked him a direct question about something, he wouldn't let information loose.

Windcharger shifted uncomfortably in his chair. _"I… suppose that would be okay."_

"_Right. Let's start from where you were stood, shall we?"_

"_Okay."_

There was a pause.

"_Well?"_

"_Listen, Prowl, I've put all this in my report. I don't know why you're-"_

"_I told; I need to be clear on a few facts before I file my report to Optimus."_

"_But the details are clear in the report. I told you where I was stood, who I was stood with, how… **it** happened."_

"_If the details are that clear, then you won't mind telling me again."_

"_I just… I don't understand why you're interrogating me."_

Prowl looked taken aback by the wording. Literally. He sat back in his chair, and knotted his fingers together in front of him.

"_I'm not **interrogating **you, Windcharger. I just want to be clear on what happened."_

"_The report's clear! Everything you need to know is in the report!"_

The image flickered, and Hot Rod frowned, glancing over at Kup. "What-"

Kup tapped away at the controls. "Don't know."

The recording continued regardless of the interference.

"_Why are you –ting like this, ----charger?"_

"_I…"_

"_What ---pen—out there?"_

"_It… you wouldn't -----stand."_

"_Understand what, ----------------?"_

The signal cut out. Hot Rod gaped. "Get it back, get it back!"

"There's nothing I can do, lad. The files been transferred up to Cybertron."

"Well… what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Kup switched off the monitor and pressed a comm Switch. "Goldbug, we're done here."

"_Okay. Thanks, Kup. I hope you found what you were looking for."_

"We did. Thanks. See you later."

"_Bye!"_

Kup pressed the comm switch again, and the two turned to go.

"Where are you two off to?"

They froze as they saw Ultra Magnus before them, fists on hips in a manner that seemed to make his hulking frame even more intimidating.

"Business on Cybertron," Kup said tersely, before trying to make his way past.

"Kup. Hot Rod. Listen. I wanted to apologise about snapping at you before. I was out of line."

Hot Rod tried to hide his frown. "Uh… no problem."

"But try to understand… this was something that hurt us _a lot_. It took us a long time to put it behind us. I'm not even sure Optimus has yet. He certainly hadn't by the battle of 2005. The reason he fought so viciously leading up to and in the fight with Megatron was mostly _because _of Elita's death."

Kup cocked an optic ridge.

Magnus shook his head slightly, realising he was getting off the point. "I just… I don't want to see Optimus in more pain. Primus knows he's been through enough, especially recently. Coming back to life can't be an easy experience, even for Optimus Prime." He reached out and laid a heavy white hand on Hot Rod's shoulder. "Think about it before you do anything more, all right?"

The young 'Bot slowly nodded. "Right. Uh, Kup… let's, uh… let's go, all right?"

They gradually turned and made their way out, Kup's optics lingering on Ultra Magnus just a micron longer than they had to before he turned all the way around.

"Hey, Mags!" a cheerful voice declared. Magnus turned to see Inferno walking towards him, a stack of datapads climbing up to just below his chin. "Just the mech I wanted to see!"

Without further ado, he forced them into the City Commander's large hands.

"Inferno, what-?"

"Those _were _meant for Kup and Hot Rod, but since they're otherwise occupied, and you just happened to be here…"

"Where's Jazz?"

The grinning red Autobot shrugged. "Said he had to get some supplies from Autobot City. Somethin' about a fiesta. Well, see you later! I've got some lifting to do on the south side!"

And with that, he transformed and thundered down the corridor. Ultra Magnus looked down at the stack of datapads and glowered as best he could at them. A small part of him hoped they would scream in fear and run away, never to be seen again.

He growled in frustration.

_Like I don't have enough to worry about…_

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"_Good day, sir. How may I help you?"_

"I'm fine. Thank you."

The robot paused for a moment, reversed, and rolled away. Optimus was becoming quite impatient with the robotic helpers. That was the third one in so many minutes that had asked him if he needed help. He made a mental note to ask Perceptor or Brainstorm about it.

He continued down through the library, the neutral and emotionless white lights above him giving the room an almost sterile feel; like an Earth surgery room or hospital.

His optics found their target. There. He bent down to better see the computer screen. Another mental note was made for the library to accommodate taller Autobots. He pushed a button on the screen, and he waited patiently as the library loaded the required information and downloaded it onto a datapad.

Optimus wondered how many people actually used the library a day. There wasn't much of an interest in ancient Autobot literature nowadays, except for the fanatics like Highbrow, Rewind and occasionally Chromedome. He remembered that Hound had expressed interest in archaeology at some point, though that was most likely Earth archaeology. Most of Cybertron's past was well documented anyway, either in the library, of via the Matrix.

He winced slightly as he thought on the Matrix. All of its wisdom, lost. All because he couldn't think of another way to stop the Hate Plague. There had to have been another way.

A shake of his head threw the disparaging thoughts from his head.

_No. Thinking like that will get you nowhere. You need to focus._

_For Elita. _

The datapad slowly emerged from the slot. He frowned. The log was missing, except for some reconstructed words. Someone had obviously been here and looked at this information before, judging by the reconstruction. Prime didn't need to guess who.

"Computer. When was this information last accessed?"

The information was displayed on the screen. Not long ago. A few hours, maybe. Optimus nodded.

"And the time before that?"

More information appeared on the screen. Just after Cybertron was retaken. Prowl's logs must have been transferred up before Trypticon attacked the Ark.

"Who transferred in this information?"

The name segment was blank. Optimus paused for a moment before clearing the screen and looking over the datapad.

_Windcharger isn't guilty, - ---- ---- much. Trail------- ------ ------- -----------, --- - ----- --'- --------. Ultra ------ isn't or wasn't -------- --------. I -----------------------------------------------------------_

The Autobot leader frowned, troubled. It wasn't just Prowl's suspicions that troubled him, though. It was the fact that someone had indeed deleted the information. The Decepticons couldn't have done it – what would be the point? They would have been proud of their accomplishment. They killed Optimus Prime's mate! A cause for celebration!

No, it wasn't the Decepticons.

Which begged the question… who was it?

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(A/N: Ooo. Tension.

Give a hoot. Review!)


	6. The Price of Heroism

Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers._

_**The Greater Good**_

**_Chapter Six: The Price of Heroism_**

Brainstorm wandered slowly into the command center, his optics firmly locked on the datapad in front of him. Something knocked into his shoulder, and he looked up irritably at an awkwardly smiling Springer. At least, as awkward as Springer could look. Brainstorm had never really seen Springer anything less than all smiles and jokes.

"Sorry there, Brainstorm. In my own little world."

The Autobot scientist nodded. "Believe me, I know the feeling."

That was the third time he had collided with someone on his way from the lab. True, the second one wasn't _technically_ a collision – he had almost kicked Wheelie – but still, the fact remained that he was becoming perhaps too enraptured in his work. Even Perceptor had asked him to slow down. And when _Perceptor_, the master of obsession, tells you to slow down, you know you're in trouble.

And yet, here Brainstorm was, making his way to the command center to speak to Optimus Prime.

Taking his attention away from the datapad and the complicated equations therein, Brainstorm made his way over to Blaster, who was in the middle of talking to someone on the other end. Someone he knew, obviously, because he was laughing and talking about something called 'Led Zeppelin'.

"Um… Blaster?"

The red 'Bot gave him a sidelong glance and nodded in acknowledgement. He pushed a button the console in front of him. "Just give me a sec, Jazz; got a customer." Blaster turned and gave Brainstorm his full attention. "Hey, Brainy! What can I do ya for?"

"Yes… um, is Prime available?"

The communications officer shook his head. "Nope, he left to- wait… speak of the devil," he corrected, gesturing to the entrance to the command center. Brainstorm turned and saw Optimus quickly making his way in, looking quite oblivious to anything else going on around him.

The former Headmaster quickly made his way over to the Autobot leader, and had to rapidly turn and increase his pace as Prime made his way right by him.

"Prime?"

Optimus suddenly shook his head, as though only just becoming aware of where he was. He noticed Brainstorm and sighed. "I'm sorry, Brainstorm. What can I do for you?"

"Perceptor and I still haven't gotten your confirmation."

Prime gave him a blank look.

"…about whether we can proceed with the power conductivity experiment?"

"I'm… afraid I haven't had the opportunity to read the report in full yet."

"Oh. I see. It's… just that Trailbreaker said you'd be able to give an answer by the end of the day, and we really need to get started."

"I'll look over it, Brainstorm."

"So… when can I expect to find out?"

"I don't know, Brainstorm. Something's come up recently that needs my full attention."

Prime turned and went into his office before Brainstorm could say any more on the subject. Slightly stunned by the rude (for Optimus) dismissal, Brainstorm turned to leave. He caught Blaster's optics as he left. The communications 'Bot gave him a 'what was that about?' look.

Brainstorm just shrugged and made his way back to the lab. Blaster frowned and returned to his conversation with Jazz.

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Hot Rod stepped off the shuttle and heard the familiar clank of his feet on the metal surface of Cybertron. Usually, he would enjoy breathing in the cool, metallic air, but there was little time for that now. He turned to Kup, who had just stepped off the ramp.

"So… where to?"

The elder 'Bot thought for a moment. "You go talk to Trailbreaker again. See if you can find anything more out about the battle. I'll head to the Eastern Data Hub in sector 12."

"Why there?"

"Because that's where the surveillance data was transferred to."

"Oh. Okay. Wait, why am I going to talk to Trailbreaker?"

"The Data Hub is a maze, lad. And at the rate you'll whiz about it, you'll probably wreck the damn place before you find anything."

"Yeah, but… I don't know how to question someone. When I was Rodimus I had the height thing going for me. Now, Trailbreaker's bigger than me."

Kup sighed and shook his head. "You're not trying intimidate him, for Cybertron's sake. He's an Autobot; you're trying to get him to open up more, not crack under pressure."

"Tell you what. _You _go talk to Trailbreaker, and _I'll _go to the Data Hub. Trailbreaker knows you better than me anyway."

Another weary sigh escaped Kup's lip components. "All right, fine. It's data file 642. But if you find _anything_, you call me right away. Don't watch it first, don't try to save it, don't. Do. Anything."

"Except call you."

Kup nodded. "Except call me."

"Right. Do anything except call you. Got it." Hot Rod grinned, quickly transformed, and hurtled away before Kup could even think about scowling.

"Cam-shafting, laser-loaded, too eager for his own good son of a bad mix of metal and circuitry…"

Kup continued his muttering the entire way to Autobot Headquarters.

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Red Alert looked up from his desk at the insistent beeping noise coming from the other side of the room. With a noise of vague protest, the security officer made his way up to the screen that adorned the control panel there.

"This is Red Alert," he said, pushing the 'receive' button more viciously than he needed to. Kup and Hot Rod's earlier visit had riled him up more than he was willing to admit. There was no need whatsoever for them to act in such a way; he was only following procedure, after all. How was that his fault?

Static filled the screen before Inferno's grinning visage appeared on the screen. It served to lighten Red's mood somewhat.

"_Heya, Red? What'cha up to?"_

"Working, Inferno. Like you should be," he replied curtly, nervously glancing back at the stack of datapads on his desk.

"_Ah, don't be such a fuddy duddy. Jazz's gone to Metroplex to pick up some supplies, and I think Optimus has got better things to worry about than whether you're talkin' to me, don't ya?"_

"That's not the point, Inferno. We _need _to follow regulations. Without them, we are left with no order, and-"

The towering red Autobot began making an exaggerated snoring sound, like that of a human when it was asleep. Red Alert sighed.

"What do you need, Inferno?"

"_Just askin' if you're comin' down for Jazz's fiesta later."_

"Jazz's… what?"

"_Fiesta. It's like a party."_

"I don't think you should be planning a party when you should be excavating the Ark. Wait…" He opticed Inferno suspiciously. "Is _that _why Jazz went to Metroplex? _Party supplies?"_

Inferno laughed. _"Oh, calm down before ya break somethin'. Yeah, that's why he went. And guess what? Even Ultra Magnus didn't have a problem with it."_

"We'll see about that. Let me speak to him."

"_He went back to Metroplex with a whole pile of datapads. But seriously, Red; he didn't have a problem with it. He was more worried about Sideswipe and Sunstreaker," _the fire truck 'Bot said with a smile.

"Typical. Those two have been a security risk from the astro cycle they came online."

"_Right ya are. Anyway, are ya comin' or not?"_

"I don't know. Perhaps. We'll see."

"_Ah, c'mon, Red. It'll be great. Don'tcha want to see the old place again?"_

"_We'll see_, Inferno." The security officer noticed another Autobot shuttle approaching Cybertron. "Now, I've got work to do, so if there's nothing else…"

"_Naw, there's nothin' else. See ya later. Or not, as the case may be."_

"Goodbye, Inferno."

Red Alert absent-mindedly switched off the monitor and made his way to the view port, looking at the Autobot shuttle. He went over to this desk and checked the schedule for the day.

There wasn't an Autobot shuttle on the roster for another day or so.

_Now who could that be?_

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Hot Rod transformed as soon as he entered the data hub. It was only then that he realised just how loud the transforming noise was. Gears turning, parts shifting… it was quite a strange combination of sounds. His audios could still hear the noise echoing in the vast room. He slowly made his way inside, feeling very humbled by the towering columns that ran the entire length of the room, looking similar to an Earth warehouse.

As a Transformer, Hot Rod had always felt rather cramped by the conditions on Earth. It was difficult to get into or simply see into some buildings, and so returning to Cybertron was always a refreshing change.

He wondered how small a human would feel in this place.

"Okay… data file 642… 642…" the flame coloured Autobot trailed his hand along the column beside him, absently tracking the numbers with his finger. "Ah. 642."

He pulled out the small chip and tucked it away in subspace. He turned and made his way out, heading for the door. Something stopped him. He looked out of the corner of his optic and saw a monitor looking back at him, as though taunting him to use it. Hot Rod summoned the small chip from subspace, and looked from it to the control panel, and back again.

_Maybe I'll call Kup later._

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The chime to his door sounded, and Trailbreaker glanced up at it absentmindedly from his datapad.

"Come in."

It obligingly slid open, revealing Kup stood in the doorway. Trailbreaker felt something inside him tighten.

"Um… hello, Kup. What brings you here? I thought you were on Earth."

"I needed to talk to you," the security officer replied tersely, making his way into the room.

"What about?"

"You know what about."

Trailbreaker paused for a moment. If he were human, he would have swallowed nervously. "Uh… have a seat, please."

The elderly 'Bot sat down in the chair opposite him. Trailbreaker tried to make himself look busy by sorting through the datapads on his desk.

"Sorry about the mess… taking over Jazz's spot up here hasn't been easy – Cybertron's a bit bigger than Autobot City, let me tell you."

"I need to ask you some questions about Elita One, Trailbreaker."

"I… don't think… I…"

"What?"

"…you should go, Kup. I've got a lot of work to do, and I'm sure you've got better things to do with your time than listen to me yammer on about stuff that's already on report."

"Is that a hint?"

"It's… a fact. Everything you need to know is on those reports."

Kup frowned. "But that's the thing, Trailbreaker; I don't think everything _is _on those reports. Everything's just a little bit too vague for my liking. Not to mention some of the inconsistencies."

"In… inconsistencies?"

"You should co-ordinate with Ultra Magnus more. You can't seem to decide where you were stood on the day it happened. He says one thing, you say another."

"Um… Kup… it's not-"

"It's not what? It's not what it looks like? Believe me, I hope so, lad. I hope so with all my laser core and spark. Because if it _is _what it looks like, then it'll take a long time for the Autobots to get over it, if they ever do."

"Then why pursue it, Kup? Do you realise what this could do?"

"This isn't something that should be just swept under the rug and ignored, Trailbreaker. This is about truth… justice. Maybe I'm being old fashioned, but I thought that was what we stood for."

Trailbreaker shifted in his chair, unwilling to look Kup in the optics. The security officer pressed on.

"That's what Elita stood for. And she died fighting for it, killed by Decepticon fire."

Kup barely saw the relief register in Trailbreaker's optics through the black Autobot's visor.

"Then why come to me, Kup?"

"Because she _wasn't _killed by Decepticon fire, was she? She was murdered for Primus knows whatever reason, and by one of her own. Someone she trusted. Someone she would never suspect."

Trailbreaker barely managed to open his lip components. "And… you think that someone was me… is that it?"

"I'm not going to go pointing the finger at anyone. But what I do know is that someone killed her, and it sure as hell wasn't a Decepticon."

"Do you realise what you're saying? What it could mean?"

"Yes. But pursuing it is the right thing to do. It's what Prime would do."

Silence permeated the room like a bad odour. Trailbreaker said nothing. The comm on his desk bleeped for attention, and he couldn't answer it fast enough.

"Trailbreaker here."

Optimus Prime's deep growl of a voice came through. _"Trailbreaker. Is Kup with you?"_

The black Autobot glanced up at Kup. "…yes."

"_Kup. Would you mind coming to my office."_

It wasn't a request.

The security officer leaned forward to better speak into the comm. "I'm in the middle of something Prime, I-"

"_Now."_

And with that, the comm went dead. Kup, knowing when to ignore orders and when to obey them, made his way out of Trailbreaker's office.

"I'll be back to talk to you later. And who knows? Maybe by then we'll have the evidence to finish this business once and for all."

Without waiting for an answer, Kup left the room, leaving Trailbreaker alone in silence, staring at the desk in front of him. He buried his head in his hands.

After a moment of indecision, he slapped his hands down on the desk and quickly made his way out. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

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While Hot Rod had engaged in a few misdeeds in his younger years (and his older ones, come to think of it), he had never engaged in voyeurism, or 'bird watching' as Spike had once called it. But that's what watching the security footage of Elita's quarters felt like.

Hot Rod had watched Prowl and Windcharger's exchange, and had found nothing that would indicate anything more than he already knew; Windcharger was innocent. Something that _was _interesting, however, was how his recollection of where they were stood on the day of Elita's death correlated with Ultra Magnus' story, and not Trailbreaker's. After a rather terse exchange, Windcharger had left a frustrated Prowl alone in his office. Hot Rod had then been exposed to a rare show of emotion on the strategic officer's part as he slammed his fist into his desk in pure anger. It was unsettling to see from the usually calm and objective Autobot.

Prowl's talks with Trailbreaker and Ultra Magnus hadn't yielded any more results, either, except that everyone's stories had correlated at the time. Obviously, both Ultra Magnus of Trailbreaker weren't expecting to be questioned on the matter after a certain amount of time. It didn't helped that Prowl had had to walk on eggshells when talking to Magnus, who had been hit as hard by Elita's death as anyone, even Prime. Although Magnus hadn't known her particularly well, she was under his care when she died, and if Hot Rod knew Ultra Magnus, he knew that it would have been eating the City Commander up inside.

And so, here Hot Rod was, having had the brainwave of deciding to check any footage of Elita One interacting with Ultra Magnus, Trailbreaker, or Windcharger. The latter two didn't talk to her much outside of nods in the hallways of the Ark. Magnus, however, had visited her quarters often to discuss tactics and the state of the war on Cybertron. Hot Rod had smiled knowingly on more than one occasion as he saw Magnus become increasingly impressed by Elita's knowledge of tactics and fighting techniques. As Carly had once said, 'Chivalry is universal', and Magnus had quickly been corrected of that attitude through his interactions with Prime's life mate.

Next up was an entry that occurred just a few short days before Elita's death. Ultra Magnus stepped into the room, and Elita offered him the chair opposite her desk.

"_No,"_ Magnus said, raising a hand. _"Thank you," _he added, prompting Hot Rod to smile. He really did have something firmly lodged up his rear port back then.

"_I won't be here long," _the City Commander continued. _"I've come to talk to you about Prime."_

"_What about him?" _Elita asked, sitting down on the chair behind her desk, concern on her features.

"_Have you noticed… anything strange about him?"_

"_You mean… compared to how he was on Cybertron?"_

Magnus nodded. Elita smiled.

"_He seems more comfortable, if that's what you mean. I'm pretty sure I've seen him smile a few times in public, too." _She opticed Magnus sceptically. _"What's this about?"_

Ultra Magnus was silent for a moment. _"I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed we've been losing ground to the Decepticons more and more lately, not least the loss of Cybertron."_

"_That was necessary, and I agreed with Optimus' reasoning. It was better to wait until we could launch a full scale attack than to continue with guerrilla efforts."_

"_Not just Cybertron. On Earth, too. Have you noticed just how frenzied the efforts to build Autobot City have been?"_

"_Well, it's not every day we create a Transformer the size of a city. But once he's finished, Metroplex will be able to handle anything that Megatron can throw at him."_

"_I'm just saying… Prime seems to be becoming more and more complacent as time goes on. It's his time on Earth. It's… changed him."_

"_For the better, I'd say."_

"_Not in terms of his tactics. He needs something to knock him out of this fantasy land he's been living in."_

"_What brought this on?"_

Magnus paused, and then silently tossed a datapad onto Elita's desk.

"_Moon Base Three was just destroyed. Shockwave led a task force inside that managed to blow up the entire planet."_

"_Any casualties?"_

"_Twenty or so humans."_

Elita rubbed her weary optics with her hand. _"Optimus is going to blame himself for this, isn't he?"_

"_But even this isn't going to be enough, Elita."_

"_Enough for what? You're talking as if this," _she held up the datapad,_ "is a good thing."_

"_That's **not** what I meant. I just mean that… Prime needs something to make him take notice. To make him push back at the Decepticons as hard as they've been pushing us."_

Elita gave Magnus a look that suggested she didn't like where he was going with this line of reasoning. _"And… what would this 'something' be?"_

He stepped forward, looking at her straight in the optics. _"You need to leave him, Elita."_

If he had been human, Hot Rod would have gagged on something, and coughed in surprise. As it was, all he could do was lean forward and watch evermore intently.

Elita scowled at Magnus incredulously. _"What?"_

"_If you left him, he would-"_

"_Go even further into himself? Go back to how he was on Cybertron? Is that what you were going to say?"_

"_Damn it, at least we were **getting somewhere **on Cybertron! Optimus has been made so damn soft by the Earth and the humans that he's forgotten what war is all about."_

Elita got to her feet. _"Optimus Prime hasn't forgotten a thing. From where I'm standing, it looks like **you're **the one whose forgotten how Autobots fight a war."_

She angrily stormed past him. He grabbed her arm, but more out of desperation than anger.

"_Elita-"_

"_I don't want to hear it," _she spat, shoving his hand from her arm and leaving the room. Shortly after, Ultra Magnus left as well.

And two days later, Elita One was dead.

Feeling numb, Hot Rod pressed eject and grabbed the chip. The doors to the data hub opened behind him, and the flame coloured 'Bot turned.

"Uh, I knew you said to call you if I found anything, but-" his words were caught in his vocal processor when he saw Ultra Magnus stood in the doorway, hands on his hips in a commanding poise.

"I don't know what you think you found, Hot Rod," he said, walking towards him, "but it would do you best to forget it."

Hot Rod didn't reply. No wisecracks, no sardonic smile.

Because nothing was funny anymore.

He slowly backed away from the Autobot that towered over him, who in turn was making his way towards him.

"Give me the chip, Hot Rod."

Hot Rod put the chip in subspace. "Come and get it."

He charged forward and transformed, knocking Ultra Magnus over him as he sped towards the door. Magnus reached up and pressed a button his arm, slamming the large door shut in front of the young Autobot.

Hot Rod screeched to a halt at the door, coming just centimetres from colliding with the solid metal. Magnus transformed into truck mode and came at him, hoping to slam him into the now closed metal door. His intended target transformed into robot mode and ran at him, leaping up on to him and transforming, his engine revving as he leapt off Ultra Magnus' trailer and landed on the other side of him with a crash.

Magnus transformed and faced his quarry, pulling his laser rifle from subspace.

Hot Rod gave pause at this, and transformed into his robot mode, staying deadly still.

"Ultra Magnus… you're not-"

"Give me the chip and we won't have to found out."

"You know I'm not going to do that."

The City Commander was silent for a moment. For the briefest of seconds, Hot Rod thought that he would give up and hand over his weapon. Ultra Magnus wouldn't fire on him. It wasn't in him.

Ultra Magnus took aim and fired.

Hot Rod leapt to his right, landing on his side. He took aim with his wrist blasters and fired both. Magnus leapt behind the now smouldering control panel, avoiding the lasers completely.

He came back up, preparing to fire at Hot Rod, but paused when he found the younger 'Bot missing. Cautiously, he stood up and made his way over, the black shadowy lighting of the data hub obscuring his vision. He activated his infra red vision but found it reacted negatively with the lights that _were _working in the room. A low growl escaped his lip components, and Magnus looked around in frustration.

"Where do you think you're going to go, Hot Rod? I've locked down the entire building. There's no way in or out."

"Don't you think the others are going to get suspicious?" Hot Rod said, his voice echoing off the walls in such a manner that it was impossible to locate its' source.

"There's been power fluctuations all over this sector of Cybertron. No-one is going to suspect anything for a while. Now. Come out and hand over the chip."

"And then what? A slap on the wrist and you let me go? Give me a break."

Ultra Magnus thought he saw a shadow move to his left, and took aim.

Nothing.

"What is it you think you've found, Hot Rod?"

"Obviously something important, or you wouldn't be trying to kill me."

"I'm not trying to kill you."

"Could have fooled me."

"I'm trying to stop you from destroying the Autobots as we know them."

"I think you did that all by yourself, Magnus."

The City Commander paused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't," Hot Rod replied, his morbid smirk evident through the tone of his voice. As he spoke, Magnus could have sworn he was talking to Rodimus Prime once again. "But, just for the sake of argument, let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time, there was a great Autobot soldier."

Another shadow flicked across his peripheral vision. Magnus turned. Again, nothing.

"This Autobot soldier was one of the greatest warriors in the entire army, and he followed the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, without question. Until Optimus disappeared on a mission for Energon. While he was away, things on Cybertron got desperate. Energon got low. And this great solider became more and more disillusioned. He continued to fight, but he was beginning to question himself, and his dedication to the cause. Then, word came from the planet Earth. Optimus Prime was alive and well."

Magnus backed away until his back was to the door, hoping it would give him a better chance of seeing his prey. Hot Rod continued talking, his location still obscured by the acoustics and shadows.

"The soldier couldn't have been happier. With Prime alive, the war could finally have a chance of ending. But something was different about Optimus. The people of Earth, the humans, had changed him. He had become less militaristic, less cold and unfeeling. He had gotten weak in his absence. The Decepticons were gaining more and more ground. They even captured the Autobots' home planet of Cybertron."

"That's enough, Hot Rod," Ultra Magnus said, catching a glimpse of something out of the right corner of his optic. He didn't move.

"So the solider decided to do something to make Prime take notice. To make him the unfeeling commander he had been on Cybertron. Or at least, the unfeeling commander that the soldier _thought _he should be. He tried to convince Prime's life mate to leave him, thinking it would reverse what the humans had done. But she refused. So the solider took the decision out of her hands."

"I said THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Ultra Magnus swung his rifle around to his right and fired in a frenzy of laser blasts. Nothing. Hot Rod wasn't there. He yelled in pain as two laser blasts rifled into his back, sending him stumbling forward.

Hot Rod leapt onto his back, reaching for the button on Magnus' wrist that would open the doors. The City Commander turned so that his back was facing the wall, and charged backwards, slamming Hot Rod into the solid metal. The young 'Bot groaned in pain as Magnus pried himself away from the wall, leaving the half crushed Hot Rod to fall to the floor.

Magnus put a large foot on Hot Rod's chest, pointing the rifle at him. He reached out with his other hand.

"The chip."

"Kiss my rear fender."

A sudden whirring sound assaulted Magnus' audios, and Hot Rod slashed out with his right hand, using the buzz saw component that was hidden in his wrist. Sparks and lubricant flew from Magnus' knee joint as he stumbled back, and Hot Rod quickly tried to scramble away. Fury knotting his features, Magnus reached down and grabbed the younger Autobot by the foot, and, using all of his strength, swung him around and into the wall face first.

Hot Rod groaned and tried to push himself up. Ultra Magnus put his foot on the small of Hot Rod's back and pushed down, pinning him to the floor. Keeping an eye on Hot Rod's arms, he once again pointed his rifle at Hot Rod.

"Give me the chip, Hot Rod. There's nothing more you can do."

Magnus felt the barrel of a laser rifle press against his back.

"No. There isn't."

Horror seeped into Ultra Magnus very spark as he turned and came face to face with a rifle wielding Optimus Prime, accompanied by Kup and Trailbreaker. The City Commander glanced at the black Autobot, who looked both ashamed and proud at the same time. Optimus gestured to Magnus' rifle.

"Put it down, Magnus."

The former City Commander slowly complied. Kup had since made his way over to Hot Rod, and was helping him to his feet.

"Are you all right, lad?"

Optimus winced as he saw the condition Hot Rod was in. Cracks and dents littered his usually smooth and shiny surface, his face made all the more older by the way it had been almost warped beyond recognition. He managed a small smile, but even that seemed to be causing him pain.

"Peachy."

Some time later, Red Alert arrived with the Protectobots to escort both Ultra Magnus and Trailbreaker to secure holding cells. Not that even the Protectobots could have held Ultra Magnus if he had any intention of escaping. But the look of abject defeat on the Autobot's features told Prime that he wouldn't be making any escape attempts.

First Aid quickly saw to Hot Rod. The manner in which he frantically raced to Hot Rod's side upon seeing his condition would have been comical in any other situation.

Optimus transformed and quietly asked them to put Hot Rod in his trailer for transport to the infirmary. Kup and First Aid delicately put the Autobot inside. Hot Rod put his hand up as they were about to close the doors. Reaching up, he pulled the chip out of subspace and slowly handed it to Kup.

"Don't… lose that, now," he said, resisting the urge to cough and make himself look like even more of a weakling.

"Not on your life, lad."

They closed the doors and Prime patiently waited for First Aid and Kup to transform and accompany him.

The journey to the infirmary was a silent one. Optimus barely heard the rumble of his own engine or the roar of the Aerialbots as they soared overhead. He tried to think of some consoling words to comfort the damaged Autobot in his trailer, but could come up with nothing. Perhaps because even he couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not after this.

"…Prime?"

Optimus was silent for a moment. "Yes, Hot Rod?"

"Everything'll be okay. You'll see."

It was that simple for Hot Rod. It truly was. Even after all he had found out, all he had discovered, he wasn't disillusioned. He wasn't giving up hope.

Even in this bleak time, Optimus Prime drew some strength from Hot Rod's overwhelming faith, and hoped that someday he would be able to return the favour.

It was little wonder Hot Rod had been chosen by the Matrix.

"Rest. We'll be at the infirmary soon."

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(A/N: This was originally going to be two chapters, but they seemed too short separately.

Well, there you have it. The culprit is revealed. I hope the reasoning for why Ultra Magnus killed Elita didn't seem too out of character – I was really trying to write it in such a way that it was actually believable that the Magnus from the show would do it.

But, if you don't think so, please say so. Honest reviews are the best, folks.

And don't concern yourselves, this is nowhere near the end…

Speaking of which, review!)


	7. Truth

Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers._

_**The Greater Good**_

_**Chapter Seven: Truth**_

Blades once again chanced a glance over at Ultra Magnus. He was sat in his cell, barely moving. Unlike humans, Transformers didn't need to move – there was no compulsion to scratch or fidget. Ultra Magnus was particularly good at it, even when he wasn't suspected of murder and shoved into a holding cell.

The Protectobot still couldn't quite believe it. The great City Commander Ultra Magnus… a murderer?

It was impossible. The Ultra Magnus _he _knew wouldn't do such a thing. Ultra Magnus, who had taught him the meaning of the word 'honour'. The same Autobot commander who kept the Autobot forces together when Optimus Prime and the others disappeared. Blades wanted to talk to him. To make him confirm that he didn't kill Elita One; that it was all some Decepticon trick.

But his orders were to just guard him. Prime had been _very _specific in his orders; no contact with _anyone whatsoever _unless he authorised it.

And besides, judging by the look of shame of Magnus' features, Blades didn't _want _to ask.

He was afraid Ultra Magnus would say yes.

The heavy doors to the brig opened, and Optimus Prime stepped through, accompanied by Kup. The expressions of both were unreadable.

Blades took that as a bad sign.

Kup walked over to the cell next to Ultra Magnus and deactivated the force field, beckoning for Trailbreaker to come out. Silently, the large black Autobot did as he was told, walking with Kup until they were both out of the room. Optimus lingered for a moment longer, looking at Ultra Magnus with the same blank expression, as though studying him.

The Autobot leader turned and left the room.

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His optics flickered online. The room was spinning. Well, not exactly spinning, but more pulsating slightly.

It wasn't pleasant, either way.

Hot Rod slowly began to lever himself up, putting his hand over his sore optics to protect them from the bright light.

"Woah, there. Just lay back down. You need to rest."

The ex-Prime recognised the voice as First Aid, the Autobots chief medic. He groaned as he got off the examination table.

"I'm… fine, First Aid. And I really need to help with the questioning. So if you don't mind-"

First Aid gently pushed him back onto the bed, which was enough to make Hot Rod lose his footing and fall onto it in his weakened state.

"Park before I nail it to the bed."

"I think you're beginning to inherit some of Ratchet's bedside manner," he said wearily, lying back down.

The door to the med bay slid open, and Optimus Prime stepped through. He walked over to Hot Rod and paused to look at First Aid. "I need to talk to Hot Rod."

"As long as you get him to rest, you can do whatever you want with him," the medic replied, turning and making his way over to a control panel in the corner.

Prime turned to look at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was run over by-" his words caught in his processor. "-Ultra Magnus," he finished, letting out an awkward breath from his exhaust port. "How's the questioning going?"

"We've only talked to Trailbreaker so far."

"And?"

Optimus sighed. "He-"

Hot Rod put up a hand to stop him for a moment. "Prime, would you sit down? I'm beginning to feel like you're going to start operating on me."

If he hadn't seen the sheepish look on Optimus' face, Hot Rod wouldn't have believed such an expression possible from the Autobot leader. Optimus pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.

"Now. As you were saying."

Prime nodded. "As you've probably realised by now, Trailbreaker came to me while you and Ultra Magnus were..." the leader turned his head in disgust. "…fighting. He said that Ultra Magnus was protecting a secret, and that he was willing to kill for it. Kup knew where you were, and we headed out."

"Why were you talking to Kup?"

Optimus shifted in his seat. "I had… started to investigate by myself. I'm not sure when I came to the decision to do so, but I did. And so, when I received word that you and Kup had returned to Cybertron, I took advantage of the situation to talk to him about what he's found out."

"…how much do you know?"

"I… I've seen the security footage from the Ark, and studied it. I know those Autobots far better than you or Kup. I hoped that… I would be able to find some clue…"

"…that Ultra Magnus didn't do it," Hot Rod finished.

Prime slowly nodded, refusing to look his one day successor in the optic.

"And?"

"I… had some suspicions, I admit. But… the fact that he covered it up for so long… everything seems to point to Magnus' guilt."

Hot Rod took a moment to digest the information before continuing on. "You've questioned Trailbreaker?"

Prime nodded. "He didn't actually see Ultra Magnus do it, but he says he _was _there. He was taking cover in the makeshift trench when…_ it_ happened."

"You say he didn't _see _Magnus do it."

"That's right."

"Did… Magnus ever tell him that he did it? Or did Trailbreaker just assume?"

"I…" the Autobot leader paused. "I don't know."

Hot Rod tried to get to his feet once again. "There's our hook. We-"

Optimus pushed him back onto the bed until he was lying down. "_I_ need to study the surveillance videos again. _You _need to rest. Maybe then you can help."

"I'm feeling a lot better. Seriously."

"I'm sure you are, but how you _feel _has nothing to do with how you actually _are_."

Hot Rod paused for a moment. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It's leader logic."

"You can't pull that trick on me."

Prime tilted his head to the side. "No? Then how about Autobot medic logic?" he said, nodding over to First Aid.

Hot Rod looked from his leader, to the medic, and back again. "Maybe I'll just lay back down."

Optimus gave him a small smile. Hot Rod didn't know how he saw it beneath Prime's faceplate, but he _did _see it.

"Rest. I'll send Kup down to visit later."

"Are you crazy? I'm supposed to be getting _better_."

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Arcee didn't like the grim look on Springer's face. That face meant he was going to do something angry and crazy, and that usually resulted in several dented and smashed inanimate objects. And, being sat in the cafeteria, there was a lot of inanimate objects to be dented and smashed.

Not that she couldn't understand where the triple changer was coming from. She herself wasn't exactly feeling 'dandy,' as Spike would put it.

She thought she had known Ultra Magnus. They both did. But what they heard…

"They're just rumours, Arcee. We don't know what happened."

She looked over the table at Springer. "Well, all I know is that Blurr saw Ultra Magnus and Trailbreaker being taken into the security sector in Energon chains, and that Highbrow saw Optimus taking Hot Rod to the infirmary. What am I supposed to think?"

"That there's been some kind of misunderstanding. What? You want me to believe that Ultra Magnus did that to Hot Rod?"

"I think you're letting your friendship cloud your judgement."

"And I think you're _not_. We've worked with Ultra Magnus for as long as I can remember. I know him. He wouldn't do anything like that."

"Unless he had good reason to."

Springer shook his head. "Even then… for him to do something like that, and to _Hot Rod _of all people… maybe Hot Rod was being controlled. Maybe Ultra Magnus was. We know both the Decepticons _and _the Quintessons would sink lower than this to hurt us. Hell, they _have _sunk lower than this before."

Kup walked through the corridor next to the doorway, obviously in a hurry. Springer leapt to his feet and followed, almost knocking over the table. Arcee stumbled after, nearly tripping over her chair.

"Kup! Kup!"

The security Autobot didn't slow down. If anything, he seemed to speed up.

"Kup, wait up," Springer said, easily matching the elder Transformer's pace.

"Haven't got much time to chit-chat, lad."

"What's going on? Arcee saw Ultra Magnus and Trailbreaker being taken to the security sector."

"It's classified. If Optimus decides to let everyone else in on it, trust me, you'll be the first to know."

Arcee leaned forward. "What about Hot Rod?"

"He's okay. He's resting at the moment, but you can visit him later."

Springer grabbed Kup's arm. "Just hold on a second, would you? _What _happened to Hot Rod that he had to be taken to the infirmary?"

Arcee put a hand on Kup's shoulder. "Talk to us, Kup."

The elder Autobot was silent. A mix of conflict and sadness crossed his face, as though debating what to do.

"I'm sorry."

And with that, he freed himself from their collective grip and continued on down the corridor.

Springer and Arcee watched him go, almost frozen in position.

A low growl from Springer quickly turned into a yell of exasperation and anger. He whirled on his heel and slammed his fist into the wall. Arcee came forward, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Springer-"

He turned around so fast it knocked her back a few steps.

"Don't, all right? Just don't."

He transformed into his car mode and shot off down the corridor, eliciting a few yelps and shouts of protest from several Transformers and humans.

Arcee understood how he felt. For the longest time on Cybertron, it had just been them. Ultra Magnus, Kup, Hot Rod, Springer, Arcee… they were like their own little family, almost akin to the gestalt Transformers. Hot Rod becoming Rodimus Prime had changed the dynamic a little, but it was still… just them. But after Optimus Prime returned and Hot Rod and Kup were promoted… Arcee and Springer began to be left out of the loop.

It was something Springer had been worried about ever since Prime's return. Arcee thought he had been worrying needlessly, that they wouldn't be split up, that Ultra Magnus wouldn't allow it.

Now, even she was worrying.

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Optimus stared at the screen. He had been staring at the screen for the better part of the day. Autobots had come in and out, handing in reports.

He had barely noticed them.

Marissa Faireborn had come in on more than one occasion to ask about the status of some report or other. The only response she got was 'I'll deal with it later'.

She hadn't been _particularly _happy about that response.

Not that Prime had noticed. It was just the same footage over and over again.

Prowl's talks with Windcharger hadn't yielded any details, but that didn't surprise Optimus in the least. Windcharger was usually unreadable, even at his most jovial.

Trailbreaker wasn't any more forthcoming with Prowl than he had been with Optimus.

And that left Ultra Magnus. Optimus wasn't sure exactly what, but there was something _off _about the City Commander's responses. Or… something about him when he answered Prowl's questions.

There.

Optimus stopped the recording and rewound it. He played it again.

There it was again.

"_Let's start with where you were stood."_

"…_what's this all about?"_

"_I just need to verify some facts before I make my report to Optimus."_

Ultra Magnus paused before speaking. _"I see."_

"There!" Optimus said aloud, almost jumping out of his seat. Ultra Magnus continued.

"_I was stood on the left, and Windcharger and Trailbreaker were on my right."_

"_In that order?"_

"_In that exact order."_

Prime turned off the monitor and sat back in his chair. He knotted his finger together while tapping his two forefingers together thoughtfully. There was something in _how _he replied to Prowl… as if he _knew _what he was doing…

His optics widened as he realised the answer. He pushed himself out of his chair, thundering out of his office and down to the security block.

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Ultra Magnus heard the doors to the brig open, but didn't bother looking up. He hadn't moved since he was brought here.

What had he done?

It was important to cover up the facts of what happened, but what he did to Hot Rod…

He hated himself for he it. He just wished they would pronounce sentence and stop all this investigative nonsense.

"Magnus."

He didn't respond.

"Ultra Magnus."

"We both know I don't deserve that title anymore, Kup."

"You haven't deserved it for four years! Now look me in the optics."

Slowly and reluctantly, Ultra Magnus brought his head up to look at Kup.

His former ally.

His former friend.

"Where's Trailbreaker?"

"Shut up. You don't ask questions."

Magnus closed his mouth. "What do you want to know?"

"Why."

"What?"

"Why'd you kill her?"

"Is this on the record?"

"Does it matter?"

Magnus paused. "I suppose not."

"Well, then?"

"It was for the good of the Autobots."

"How? How in the name of Primus was this for the good of the Autobots?"

"You saw how it affected Prime. He… turned the tide of the war after her death."

"Very nice. Now how about the _real_ reason?"

Magnus head whipped up to look at him. "What?"

"You don't believe a word you just said."

"I-"

The doors to the brig slid open again, and Ultra Magnus heard the familiar heavy footsteps of Optimus Prime.

"Kup. Would you mind giving us a minute?"

"Prime, I-"

"Now, Kup. I'll talk to you about this later."

The elder Autobot seemed ready to protest, but then thought better of it upon seeing Optimus' disposition. After one more angry glance at Ultra Magnus, he stormed out.

The two stared at each other in silence.

"Have you come to berate me as well?"

Optimus shook his head. "If I know you, you've been doing that to yourself enough." He tilted his head to the side. "But then again, you're not the Ultra Magnus I knew. Perhaps you're proud of what you've done."

"No. Never."

After pausing for a moment, Optimus sighed. "I'm glad to see at least some semblance of the Magnus I know."

"I'm still here, Prime. I haven't changed."

An optic ridge rose. "Really? You've always been a murderer?"

Ultra Magnus opened his mouth, but then looked away.

"But we both know that's not the truth, don't we?"

The City Commander froze. Slowly, he looked up at the Autobot leader who stood before him, his arms crossed expectantly.

"Well?"

"Prime… I… it…"

"Don't make your situation any worse than it already is, Magnus."

Ultra Magnus closed his mouth, as though afraid of what he might say. Optimus sighed.

"All right. If you won't tell me, I'll find the concrete evidence to prove it. I'll continue this investigation for as long as I need to."

He turned to leave. Ultra Magnus leapt up, putting his hands against the force field.

"Prime… don't."

Optimus froze at the door before slowly turning around. "Are you going to tell me what I want to know?"

"Will you believe a word I say?"

"We'll see."

Magnus sighed. "Prime… Optimus. Face it. No matter what I tell you now, you'll have no way of knowing whether I'm lying. If I say I killed Elita, I'm trying to protect someone else. If I tell you that someone else did it, I've changed so much that I'm trying to protect _myself_."

After an agonising silence, Prime spoke.

"Then let _me_ fill in the blanks. You had an argument with Elita. You wanted her to leave me so I would become more ruthless." The words left a bitter taste on his sensors. "But she refused. And then, in battle, you saw your chance and killed her."

Ultra Magnus remained silent.

"But that's not what happened. You were frustrated by her refusal, yes, but even you wouldn't resort to murdering her. I doubt the thought even crossed your processor."

"Are you saying that the Decepticons did it?"

Optimus shook his head. "No. The scans Ratchet took confirm it came from an Autobot weapon. But I also know the kind of laser rifle you use. It would have ripped through Elita's chassis like tin foil."

"Maybe I picked up another weapon."

"Perhaps, but you forget that I was also present during that battle, as were quite a few Autobots. After enquiring to each of them about it, every one said that you used your own rifle for the entirety of the battle."

"But their optics weren't on me the entire time. How can you be sure-"

"Because I know _you_, Magnus! I saw the security footage of Prowl talking to you about the battle. You _gave _Prowl, Kup and Hot Rod a reason to suspect you – you made yourself the most obvious target!"

"Maybe it's a double bluff to protect myself."

"Damn it Magnus, stop it."

"No, Prime. You're the one who needs to stop and just accept the fact that I did it. _I _killed Elita One."

Optimus took a deep breath. "Trailbreaker tells a different story."

Magnus' expression darkened. "What?"

"He says that Windcharger did it, and that you've been covering for him."

The anger on the City Commander's face gave way to despair, an expression Optimus had never seen from him before. It was more than a little disconcerting.

"Primus… it wasn't his fault, Prime. Windcharger didn't know she was there. He was taking aim at Starscream and charged his weapon… she…"

Magnus trailed off, sitting back down on the bench at the other side of his cell.

"Why did you lie?" Optimus asked, his low voice just above a whisper.

"He… Windcharger didn't know what to do. I'm his commanding officer. It's my job to see to the welfare of my troops." He looked up into Prime's optics. "It wasn't his idea, Prime. He wanted to tell you. It was on _my _insistence that we covered this up. Morale was low enough among the Autobots without them finding out that one of them had murdered another of their own." He looked down at his white hands, which now to him seemed so dirty. "I can't believe Trailbreaker would tell you…"

Something clicked in Ultra Magnus' processor.

He slowly looked up at Prime, who refused to look him in the optics.

"Trailbreaker didn't tell you anything, did he?"

Optimus was silent for the longest time.

"If he hadn't, would you?"

"…what?"

"If Windcharger hadn't killed Elita, would you have?"

Magnus bowed his head. "The fact that you would even ask me that-" he stopped himself and sighed. "No. No Prime. I wouldn't."

He didn't make a sound; he just remained perfectly still, his optics firmly locked on Magnus.

"I'll be back to talk to you later."

He turned and left the room, leaving Ultra Magnus once again, completely and utterly alone. The former City Commander sat and buried his head in his hands.

_I'm sorry, Windcharger._

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His footsteps echoed in the Mausoleum for what seemed like an eternity as he made his way over to the Autobot leader. His arms were crossed, although the pose didn't seem as intimidating as it usually did. In fact, Prime seemed… smaller somehow.

Not that Kup could blame him. He felt pretty small right now himself.

"Prime?"

Optimus almost seemed as though he were startled. His optics softened as he recognised Kup.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Kup. I was just…"

Kup put up his hand. "I think I can guess." He looked over at the statue of Elita One stood before them. He turned so that he was facing it, too.

"How's Hot Rod?"

"He's fine. Up and about. Won't be racing around any corridors for awhile, but… he's getting better."

"How is he dealing with… everything?"

"Better than I thought he would."

"Has he been to see Ultra Magnus?"

"Not yet, but… it's only a matter of time. It's still hard to believe Magnus would do so much for one Autobot." Kup paused for a moment. "What are you going to do about Trailbreaker?"

Optimus took a deep breath. "He didn't see anything. He was as shocked as anyone when he found out that Windcharger was responsible. But regardless of who he thought it was, that doesn't discount what he did for all those years, even if Ultra Magnus _did_ force him into it."

"With all sympathy to Trailbreaker, Prime… there's only so much your commanding officer can _force _you to do."

Prime nodded. "I know," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper. He looked up at the statue. "I'm not sure what kind of punishment is appropriate. We don't have any prisons on Cybertron."

"We'll think of something," Kup said, not meaning the sentence to sound like a threat, but realising afterwards that it probably did.

"Perhaps something on a far-off planet."

"Exile?"

Prime nodded. "Not permanent, but… I don't know what else to do. I can't just demote him and put him back in with the rest of the Autobots."

"And… the same for Ultra Magnus?"

Optimus sighed. "I don't know. In any case, there's going to have to be a major shift in the command structure. I'll have to send Jazz to Earth to take over Magnus' position… someone else will need to be promoted as my second in command… not to mention Jazz's second in command…" he shook his head and allowed it to fall, his body finally feeling the consequences of what had happened. He slowly looked back up at Elita's gleaming visage.

"How did this happen, Kup? How did we become… like _them_? Ultra Magnus was lying for Windcharger, Trailbreaker thought he was lying for Ultra Magnus…" He put his hand over his face. "And I lied to Ultra Magnus to get the truth. Lies and distrust breed lies and distrust. How did this happen?" he said, his voice wrought with frustration and anger.

Kup cautiously stepped over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't honestly know, Prime. I just know that… if we're going to honour her memory," he said, gesturing to Elita's statue, "and all the past Autobot's memories…" he turned Optimus so that he was optic to optic with him. "_Even_ Windcharger… then we're going to have to make sure that this _never _happens again."

Optimus lay a hand on his shoulder, slowly nodding. "You're right, Kup." He looked up at Elita one last time.

"You're right."

The two transformed and made their way away from the Mausoleum.

As they left, they both hoped they were leaving the past behind them, as well.

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(A/N: Only an epilogue to go, folks.

Reviews, please!)


	8. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers._

_**The Greater Good**_

_**Epilogue**_

_November 14th, 2004_

Prowl nearly tripped over himself as he suddenly stopped to avoid a near-collision with Grimlock, who was charging across his path and out of the Ark, closely followed by his fellow Dinobots.

He considered reprimanding them, but quickly decided against it. This wasn't just a result of the fact that they outweighed and outnumbered him by quite a frightening degree. It was also because Prowl simply couldn't find the resolve or effort to do so. The battles with the Decepticons had become increasingly frequent and much more violent than usual of late.

The fact that this surprised Prowl just showed how much Earth life had softened him and the other Autobots. They had become so used to winning every battle that when they actually started suffering losses, they were left dazed and confused.

The most recent battle with the Decepticons was indicative of this. They had only suffered one loss, but it was enough. For it affected Optimus Prime. And whatever affected their leader had a knock on effect on everyone under his command. During that battle, they had lost Elita One.

Prowl shook his head. It was almost too difficult to believe. Since the battle, Optimus had shut himself in his office, refusing all outside contact and relegating all of his duties to the other high ranking Autobots. He maintained that it was by no means permanent, but he simply didn't trust himself to work properly at the moment. Which Prowl could understand, even if he couldn't empathise.

It was Elita One that brought him to the repair bay; Ratchet had finished his autopsy. While not something he would have liked to do under usual circumstances, he had reportedly found something strange about the blast patterns, and had asked Prowl for permission to perform said autopsy. He didn't envy the CMO his job.

He came to a stop outside the door of the repair bay.

A deep breath through his intake valve was all he allowed himself before pushing through his reluctance and going in.

"What have you found?" Prowl asked, stepping through the doorway and hearing it hiss shut behind him.

Ratchet had his back to the bed on which Elita was laid, one hand over his optics.

"Ratchet?"

The Autobot medic slowly brought his head up to look at Prowl. "I, uh…" Ratchet just shook his head, looking back at the console. "It's… not good."

"Why? What's wrong with… what's wrong?"

Now it was the medic's turn to take a deep breath. "The blast patterns… they indicate that she was shot from behind."

Prowl nodded slowly. "Well… that's not exactly unusual. She could have been thrown… that is…"

Ratchet nodded. "That's not all. The blast patterns aren't consistent at all with any Decepticon weapon I've seen or that we know of. It's only consistent with…" He sighed and shook his head again. "…an Autobot weapon."

The second in command of the Autobots chanced a glance over at the still form of Elita One and then looked back to Ratchet. "Are you saying that an _Autobot _did this?"

"I'm just reporting what I've found. What you _think _happened is… up to you."

He nodded slowly, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. "Right… uh, thank you… Ratchet." He turned to go, but then paused at the door. "You can… you can prepare her for the funeral service now."

His only response was a mute nod.

The door slid shut behind Prowl, and he was instantly away, making a beeline for Optimus Prime's quarters. Even if he wasn't officially in charge of anything at the moment, he needed to know about this, and Prowl wanted to be the one who told him.

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Prowl gave Ultra Magnus a nod as he entered Prime's office. Few Autobots felt like talking at the moment, and Ultra Magnus was no exception. Being as close to Prime as he was, Magnus was most likely trying to be as respectful as he could while still trying to keep Optimus from falling apart.

"Prime?"

Optimus was sat at his desk, his shoulders hunched like some shadow monster. He barely moved his head up to look at his second in command.

"Yes, Prowl."

"I… need to talk to you."

Ultra Magnus stood. "Can't it wait?"

Prowl ignored him. "It's about Elita One."

"If it's about the funeral service, he doesn't need-"

"No_ sir,_" Prowl replied, giving Magnus a quick glare. He turned back to Optimus. "It's… concerning how she died."

Prime looked up. "What about it?"

"I… Ratchet found evidence that would suggest she was… killed by Autobot fire."

The Autobot leader stared at him. "What?" he replied, his voice a deadly low rumble.

"I… I said that-"

"I heard what you said!" Prime all but bellowed, almost leaping to his feet. "Elita's dead, Prowl! Isn't that enough?"

Prowl stood his ground, not moving an inch. "I understand that, but-"

"Get out."

"Prime-"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

Ultra Magnus quickly moved between them, guiding Prowl out by the shoulder. As soon as they were outside, Magnus quickly pressed the close button for Prime's office door.

"What the hell did you think you were doing in there?"

"My duty."

"It's your duty to torture your commanding officer?"

"No, sir. It's my duty to seek out the truth. Elita may have been killed by Autobot fire. I intend to find out the truth."

"Prowl…" Ultra Magnus sighed. "…don't do this. For Prime's sake, don't do this. This has hurt him enough without you adding to his pain."

The white Autobot paused for a moment. "The only reason Prime is acting this way is because the wounds are so raw. Once he's-"

"What? Gotten over it? You don't just 'get over' the death of a life mate, Prowl."

"I realise that, sir, but-"

"Prowl. I am giving you a direct order not to pursue this matter any further. Do you understand me?"

He didn't respond.

"Soldier. I asked you a question. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. Sir."

Slowly, Ultra Magnus stood back up to his full height before opening the door to Optimus' office and going back in. Prowl watched him go, his expression as emotionless as ever.

He whirled on his heel and stormed down the corridor, heading for the rec room. There, sat staring into his Energon drink, was Windcharger.

"Windcharger!"

The Minibots' head whipped up at the mention of his name.

"My office. Now. I've got some questions."

"Uh… okay."

The two made their way to Prowl's office, the strategist ignoring Windcharger's nervous looks the entire way.

Prowl didn't give a damn what the hell Ultra Magnus said. He could order him not to pursue it until he was blue in the face. But Prowl wasn't going to give up.

He owed it to Optimus Prime.

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(A/N: Well, that was more of a prologue than an epilogue, but it feels much more effective at the end of the story than it would have done at the beginning.

I'd like to thank the following for their reviews:

Shadow dragon04: Hope you enjoyed it.

Ultra Rodimus: Thanks for you reviews; I'll probably need some of that Transformers info you were offering for a future story, so hopefully the offer's still open. : )

Lady Starscream: Aside from having a seriously cool username, I'd also like to thank you for your reviews.

Master Solo: Thanks for staying on board, and thanks for the kind words.

Crystal Shekeira: Thanks for your reviews. I love your 'Lament' stories – here's hoping (read: asking) for a new addition…

Uftaki: Y'know… I'm kind of sad that I didn't use Nightbeat. It could've been this really noir 50s detective type thing… ah well. Another time, perhaps. ; )

MariaShadow: Considering that a lot of high quality G1 stuff comes from your brain to this site, I'm very much appreciative of your reviews. (P.S. More from 'Communiqué', please…)

Hhgbh: You know, it's pretty much becoming a prerequisite of my stories to have you reviewing them; cool to know I've got a fan… ; ) As always, thanks for your reviews!

K9 the First: Heh, glad to know I'm pulling in non-G1 fans as well. The more the merrier!

Tiamat1972: Glad you liked the little glimpses of the twins I put in there. While we didn't see the end result of their disappearance, be sure to check out my next G1 story, 'Desperate Measures'; they'll have a very special bit in it.

Tahalli: I hope the suspense paid off for you!

Gravion: The murder of Orion Pax, eh? Interesting concept…

Beertree: While the Kup and Hot Rod banter came out pretty naturally, thanks for the props on Prime's character. He's a very hard character to give personality to without offending _someone_. Thanks for reviewing!

Velvet Glove: You followed a recommendation? Cool. I haven't been able to respond to your reviews, so I'll do some of that here. At the end of 'Rebirth', Optimus tells the Nebulons they need to become 'masters' of their own fate. I took that to mean that they would stay on Nebulos, and Cerebros would be the only Transformer to stay. And, since Spike probably wouldn't have liked that little arrangement, I assume that the Headmaster and Targetmaster process isn't permanent, since they take off their suits when the plasma energy hits. So that's why Arcee and Daniel aren't, um… together.

And I hoped Ultra Magnus' _real _reasons are more fitting with his character, even if he _did _go a bit too far. ANYway, thanks for the reviews.

Fusion Blaster: I was going for a 'Lethal Weapon' feel with Kup and Hot Rod (I got that feeling from their banter in the movie), so I'm glad I got it. Thanks for reviewing!

Tieblaster: Thanks for reviewing! And… were your suspicions correct?

Docarrol: Well, you were far from wrong in your review. Hope you thought the conclusion worked.

Whatisee: Yes. Yes, he is crazy.

Uftaki: Glad to see I surprised you. Here's hoping the end result was more in character.

Also, thanks to:

Wikipedia

Seibertron dot com

Peter Cullen, for reprising his role of Optimus Prime for the new 2007 movie. HOW COOL IS THAT?

Ahem. Excuse while I put away my inner nerd.

Don't forget to review this chapter too.

Adios.)


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